Businessman Joey Concepcion yesterday said the government should hasten its decision on whether or not it will extend the the State of Public Health Emergency until end of the year and proposed to shift strategy to mitigation to nurse the economy back to health.
“The economy at this time is the biggest priority, with the rising prices and interest rates our consumers and MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) will be affected. Consumer spending cannot wane because our GDP (gross domestic product) will be affected,” said Concepcion in a statement yesterday.
Concepcion said the country cannot afford vaccination mandates and mitigation by stocking up on antiviral pills like Molnupiravir and Paxlovid will be more practical.
“People are starting to get together, to go out, return to normal activities, and some of them will get infected,” he said.
But he noted other strategies will depend on whether or not the president follows through with his plan to extend the State of Public Health Emergency until end-2022.
“This will affect how the new vaccines will be purchased. If the manufacturers are able to secure certificates of product registration for their vaccines and sell these through drug stores or we continue with an Emergency Use Authorization, all this must be cleared soon once the President makes his decision,” said Concepcion.
Concepcion said all signs seem to be pointing to the fact that Filipinos are learning to live with COVID but based on data, vaccination rates hardly moved in the past month.
Citing COVID-19 National Vaccination Dashboard, Concepcion said only 18.1 million booster vaccinations were administered despite the 71.5 million people who are eligible for it.
Concepcion said COVID cases are underreported due to the preference of antigen testing. This in turn contributes to low booster take-up because those who get infected do not bother to take boosters anymore.
“I believe more people are infected but most are not reporting the cases anymore since antigen testing is what is used more often,” he said.
As for easing outdoor masking mandates, Concepcion said he supports Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Benhur Abalos’ willingness to see how Cebu City will fare in its attempt to lift outdoor masking requirements.
“I feel outdoor masking should be optional. It allows Filipinos to manage their risks,” said Concepcion.
