The government is considering allowing only vaccinated people to leave their homes to run errands during a lockdown, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said over the weekend.
Lopez, a member of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), said this was a possibility as the country tends to fall back into strict lockdowns.
“We need to prepare for this kind of protocol since this is what has been trending in other countries, and we’re no different from them.
This policy is already being observed in countries with high vaccination rates. We need to enforce this during lockdown periods only,” he said.
Lopez said the government needs to adopt this as a policy to allow more physical movement and more economic movement especially since other sectors continue to be open, like restaurants and stores, to sustain livelihoods and the economy.
He also urged unvaccinated people to have themselves vaccinated, as protection for them and their unvaccinated family members.
Despite another spike in new infections on Saturday, the IATF said it remained optimistic that these numbers would decline before the end of the lockdown period on Aug. 20.
It did not say what it would do if the expectations were not met.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) reached another breakthrough as it has now vaccinated 112,325 individuals in its Bakuna Centers and Bakuna Buses nationwide as of Aug. 14.
PRC Health Services Manager Mark Abrigo said in a statement they have inoculated 105,481 in their jabs centers and 6,844 through the buses.
Out of the total vaccinated so far, 2,251 were jabbed with Moderna under the Government's Moderna Program Initiative.
“As we have gradually operated the new Bakuna Center in Edsa, we have already vaccinated 1,154, out of which 634 were overseas workers," Abrigo said.
PRC chair and chief executive officer Senator Richard Gordon said rising cases should mean more aggressive testing and vaccination efforts.
“Only by vaccination can we achieve herd immunity," Gordon said in a statement.
Those interested to register for PRC vaccination may call hotline no. 1158.