'Bakuna bubble' explainer set next week; 'better than lockdown' options pursued

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion will lead a press briefing next week on the proposed "bakuna (vaccine) bubble" for the National Capital Region (NCR).

The online event to be held on Monday afternoon, Aug. 30 is expected to give clarity on the bakuna bubble setup, which would allow for greater mobility among unvaccinated Metro Manila residents especially when compared to the rigid "no vaccination, no entry" suggestions floated by some sectors in weeks past.

The explainer is timely too, since the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) is set to meet also on Monday to discuss the discuss the next quarantine classification of NCR and other areas in the country in connection with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

Metro Manila is under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until the end of August.

Concepcion has described the bakuna bubble as "A safe space where fully-vaccinated persons can freely move around; for instance, from their homes, workplaces, and commercial establishments."

"But in this scenario, unvaccinated persons also have their own exclusive bubbles and transportation systems to allow them to move, but only from their homes to their workplaces and back," said the Go Negosyo founder.

Under this scheme, Metro Manila malls can allow both vaccinated and unvaccinated persons to enter, while individual shops within the malls–such as restaurants, cafés, salons, gyms, etc., will implement the bakuna bubble, wherein a vaccination card or, in the case of unvaccinated persons, a negative antigen or reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result must be presented before they can enter establishments within the malls.

“This is a better approach than continuing to have lockdowns. In this way, we can let businesses open safely with the help of more mobility from both the vaccinated and the unvaccinated,” Concepcion said in a statement Thursday, Aug. 26.

The bakuna bubble was conceived using inputs from the private sector, Senator Bong Go, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benhur Abalos, and Department of Justice (DOJ) Secretary Menardo Guevarra.

The proposal has already reached Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.