Presidential Adviser on Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion said he'd rather leave it up to the Metro Manila mayors whether or not they would allow unvaccinated minors to enter local shopping malls amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.
"Dito sa mga batang 11 and below (As for kids 11 years old and below). Well, I leave it up to the Metro Manila mayors," Concepcion said in a recent television interview.
It was last month when the Philippines rolled out its pediatric vaccination against COVID-19, which covered minors aged between 12 and 17. The government has yet to green-light COVID-19 jabs for kids aged 11 and below.
"So the 12 and 17, okay na sila (They're okay)," Concepcion noted.
According to the Palace official, unvaccinated individuals have a "big chance" of contracting the dreaded COVID-19.
This notwithstanding, Concepcion said that it's still worth studying for the local government units (LGUs) whether or not unvaccinated children should be allowed inside malls.
"So it’s up to them to decide on that matter, kasi (because)... yes, hindi bakunado, may chance, malaki ang chance, pero siguro namang kung naka-face mask, face shields sila at social distancing at alagaan ng mga parents nila, baka puwedeng tingnan natin (yes, there's a big chance that the unvaccinated might get infected, but maybe if they're wearing face masks and face shields, practicing social distancing and tended to by their parents, maybe we could look at it)," he said.
Metro Manila or the National Capital Region (NCR) de-escalated to alert level 2 last Nov. 5 under the Alert Level System (ALS) for COVID-19 Response. That same weekend, parents bought their little kids to malls--the first time Filipino families were allowed to do so in the last 18 months.
The lowering of alert level was made possible by the high vaccination rate in NCR and the plummeting of new daily COVID-19 cases.