The Metro Manila Council (MMC) has tasked the local government units of the National Capital Region (NCR) to come up with their own ordinances penalizing individuals who will get a "booster" shot or a third dose of COVID-19 vaccine, Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte bared Saturday.
The order came after two individuals in Quezon City were found to have received a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine using Moderna and Pfizer jabs, respectively, although they were already fully vaccinated with Sinovac.
After learning of their third vaccine shot through their social media posts, the local government immediately filed charges against them before the city prosecutor's office. The two incidents happened just two weeks after the city council passed a measure penalizing COVID-19 vaccine fraudsters like them.
Quezon City is the first city in NCR to have such an ordinance.
“Actually I brought that up to Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chair Benhur Abalos because one of the violators came from his city. He said he would think of it, of how to solve such an issue at least within Metro Manila. Even without the Department of Information and Communications Technology database, we can exchange information with one another ,” Belmonte said in a DZBB interview.
“I just want to mention that the Metro Manila Council, under supervision of Chair Abalos, has already been ordered that each city should come up with its own local ordinance against COVID-19 vaccine fraudsters,” she added.
Belmonte said the issue on COVID-19 vaccine fraudsters, particularly on those getting an extra jab, would not be resolved until the local government units have access to the proposed unified COVID-19 vaccine database of the DICT.