Presidential adviser on entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion yesterday proposed the imposition nationwide of the “no vax, no labas” policy being implemented in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Meanwhile, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez reiterated his proposal to make new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) self-test kits available in drugstores so people can have voluntary home tests at a lower cost.
Concepcion at the Laging Handa public briefing yesterday said he remains optimistic of business prospects for the year, especially if the country is able to control the surge of Omicron as soon as possible.
He said the imposition of a stricter Alert Level 3 in NCR will not have huge economic impact as business is usually slow and mobility is down in the first quarter.
“Governors should also restrict the movement of the unvaccinated. This will force them to get the vaccine. Not that we are depriving them their right to movement but we are protecting them from getting infected.
Those hospitalized are not vaccinated” he said.
Concepcion said this will help in reviving the economy even as Filipinos live with the virus.
“We want to end this pandemic so business can prosper to help government raise funds for vaccine procurement. This cannot be sustained as this requires huge budget (and borrowings) and (government) has no choice for now (but to shoulder the expenses). But this has to go back to private sector (eventually),” Concepcion said.
He noted private sector- procured vaccines are on full delivery for Moderna and full arrival for Astra Zeneca and will boost government’s vaccination drive.
Meanwhile, Lopez told reporters he has asked the technical working group of the Inter-agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to come out with a list of Food and Drug Administration-approved antigen test kits as well as the guidelines in administering such.
“In this increasing cases of COVID-19, presumably of Omicron, it is important to have another layer of protection. Since we allow greater mobility, we should adjust the protocol to encourage self-test especially if one is going to a gathering or an event for prevention of transmission,” he said.
Lopez said an antigen test can detect if one is infectious for the day.
“Getting an antigen test…should be part of a new normal protocol as is better than no test at al for all asymptomatic,” he said.
