THE World Health Organization (WHO) and the Department of Health yesterday opposed a proposal to set up a “vaccine bubble” in establishments in Metro Manila (National Capital Region), which will allow full mobility for individuals who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 but will restrict the movement of unvaccinated persons.
Dr Rabindra Abeyasinghe, WHO representative to the Philippines, said in a briefing a vaccine bubble may provide a false sense of security for vaccinated individuals, who may think they cannot be infected with coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“The concept of bubbles for vaccinated people doesn’t actually hold true because you will continue to be at risk of getting infected. And if you are infected, you can infect other people,” said Abeyasinghe.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, in another briefing, said it is not yet time to establish a bubble set-up as there are more unvaccinated than vaccinated individuals at this time.
“We will get to that point once the supply of vaccine has become stable and once vaccine coverage has improved, not just in NCR, but in other regions as well,” she said.
The vaccine bubble was proposed by Joey Concepcion, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship, who said a “bakuna bubble” may be implemented after at least 50 percent of Metro Manila’s population has been fully vaccinated. He also said limiting the mobility of unvaccinated persons will be for the common good. He said his proposal is not discriminatory, will save the economy, and is supported by businesses like malls, restaurants, gyms, and salons.
Latest data from the DOH showed close to 14 million Filipinos have been fully vaccinated, or have been given two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
All the vaccines against COVID-19, except that made by Johnson & Johnson, are given in two doses.
The DOH said that as of August 29, 13,784,681 individuals have been fully vaccinated while 19,314,711 individuals that have received the first dose.
The country has so far received 48.88 million doses since February this year.
Broken down into priority groups, 1.94 million healthcare workers (A1) are fully vaccinated, 3.9 million senior citizens (A2), 5.04 million persons with comorbidities (A3), 2.38 million frontline workers (A4), and 474,000 from the poor population (A5).
Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez, also chief of the National Task Force against COVID-19, said 25 million doses are expected to be delivered this month and 29.5 million doses in October.
The vaccines are Sinovac, Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Sputnik Light.
He said the country also expects three million doses through the WHO-backed COVAX Facility and a million doses of donated vaccines from other countries.
President Duterte, during his weekly Talk to the People address, again asked the public to be vaccinated and to continue following minimum health standards which he said are the best defense against COVID-19. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
