Exemption from ‘no vax, no ride’ lifted after Feb 25
BY NOEL TALACAY and MYLA IGLESIAS
THE government yesterday temporarily lifted travel restrictions for partially and unvaccinated workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) and gave them 30 days to be inoculated in time for the full implementation of the government’s “No Vaccination, No Ride” policy in public transportations next month.
Artemio Tuazon Jr., undersecretary for administrative services of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and a member of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), said the 30-day window period was a joint decision of the DOTr, Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Interior and Local Government and the Department of Health.
Tuazon said unvaccinated and partially vaccinated workers will be allowed to ride public transportation and public utility vehicles (PUVs) in entering, exiting, and going around the metropolis until February 25. After that, only fully vaccinated workers will be allowed to ride in public utility vehicles in Metro Manila.
“Workers in industries and establishments allowed to operate in NCR under the existing COVID-19 Alert Level 3 status, who are still unvaccinated and partially vaccinated against the virus, will only be given 30 days from 26 January 2022 to continue riding public transportation and public utility vehicles (PUVs) in entering, exiting, and going around the metropolis”, Tuazon said in a virtual press briefing.
“This is to ensure that only those fully protected against COVID-19 are safe from using public transport. Data show that workers who remain unvaccinated against the virus that causes COVID-19 are more vulnerable to severe and critical infections,” Tuazon explained.
The transportation official said the move is aimed at protecting those who have yet to be inoculated from contracting COVID-19 and later developing severe infections.
He preempted criticisms that the decision is discriminatory, stressing that “as jointly decided by the DOLE, DILG and DOTr, workers who will remain unvaccinated 30 days after the announcement are not being barred from their workplaces. They are simply not allowed to use public transportation but can still use other means such as active transport, private vehicles, or company shuttle services.”
Tuazon urged unvaccinated workers to get their anti-COVID vaccines within the 30 days window period. “This joint decision is also meant to support the vaccination drive of the entire government. We want our workers to get fully vaccinated especially now that there is no longer a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, and there is a threat of highly transmissible variants of the virus. We are giving our workers the time to get themselves vaccinated,” he said.
Tuazon reiterated the policy will only be in effect in Metro Manila while it is under Alert Level 3 or higher. It will automatically be lifted once the alert level is deescalated to Alert Level 2 or 1.
Cabinet Secretary and acting presidential spokesman Kalro Nograles echoed the policy will be lifted once the region’s level status is downgraded.
Nograles, in an interview with CNN Philippines, also pointed out that the public transport ban on the unvaccinated was implemented in line with the existing policy of the Metro Manila Council limiting persons who have not been inoculated to their homes, except for essential travels such as medical appointments, to buy food supplies and medicines and to go to work.
Nograles noted that official records showed that at least 85 percent of those hospitalized for severe to critical COVID-19, and more than 90 percent of those who died were unvaccinated.
ALERT LEVELS
Nograles said the IATF will meet today to discuss the current alert levels implemented in different parts of the country for the period covering February 1 to 15.
He said the IATF will make public its decision on the alert levels by Saturday or Sunday to make it closer to the start of implementation on February 1. The alert levels will be based on the status of COVID growth rate, average daily attack rate, and hospital utilization rate of an area.
Nograles said that while current COVID-19 indicators indicate a downtrend in NCR, “it is better to wait for the final decision of the IATF on the alert levels.”
The NCR and 50 other provinces and cities are under Alert Level 3 until January 31 while four provinces are under Alert level 4.
Nograles said the government is closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation in regions outside of Metro Manila, among them the Calabarzon (Region VI-A) and Central Luzon (Region III), which are also experiencing lower number of infections.
He said they are also following the situation in the cities of Baguio, Cebu Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, Iloilo, Bacolod, Cagayan de Oro, Davao and General Santos; the provinces of Cebu and Iloilo; and the Ilocos and Cordillera Administrative Regions as they have been classified under “critical” level due to high growth and daily attack rates.
Nograles said areas in the “critical level” need to increase their current hospital beds and isolation bed capacities, improve their telemedicine and teleconsultation system to avoid overwhelming hospitals, and limit COVID beds to critical and severe cases; and to make accessible and increase the supply of anti-viral drugs for COVID-patients similar to the strategies implemented in NCR during the surge of cases in the region.
The Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) Laboratory Chief Dr. Armando Tandoc III said they are currently operating on a limited capacity after some many of their staff are either in quarantine or self-isolation either after testing positive for COVID-19 or for possible exposure to COVID-19 patients. No data was available on how many of the staff are infected or in isolation.
Tandoc, during the Laging Handa public briefing, said many people are turning to the RITM due to the surge in COVID-19 but they are limiting the acceptance of visitors and encouraging making online appointments.
He said they have also limited the processing of COVID test per day to 400 due to the availability of other accredited laboratories.
“Even our employees are either on isolation or quarantine for suspected COVID that’s why even our operation of labs in the hospitals are affected. For now, we are limiting those who come to RITM and encourage online appointment to prevent overcrowding and infecting others,” he said.
RITM Virology Department Head Dr. Mayan Lumandas, meanwhile, said the RITM is expanding its role from being the sole laboratory for the detection and confirmation of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) in the country to leading a national public health laboratory network. RITM is one of confirmatory laboratories processing COVID tests.
Lumandas, in the same briefing, said seven subnational laboratories (SNLs) for the detection of VPDs will start operating in July outside of the NCR which will to serve as confirmatory testing hubs for common vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, rubella, rotavirus disease, and Japanese encephalitis.
She said the seven laboratories are the Ilocos Training and Regional Medical Center, Jose B. Lingad Memorial Regional Hospital, Western Visayas Medical Center, Vicente Sotto Medical Center, Zamboanga Medical Center, Southern Philippines Medical Center, and Cotabato Regional and Medical Center and will be operational by July. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
