Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion has appealed to the government to allow businesses to operate at full capacity once they attain the level of "micro-herd immunity" from COVID-19.

With the support of business leaders, Concepcion has proposed reaching herd immunity in malls and other workplaces by vaccinating around 80 percent of their workforce in a bid to hasten economic recovery. "Safe spaces" can then be declared in these establishments like offices, factories, and other buildings.

“I believe that if we are able to vaccinate 80-plus percent of employees in a building, that means herd immunity is achieved in that group, so why don’t we increase their capacity?” Concepcion said during a recent online forum attended by government and business leaders as well as medical experts.

“At 80 percent vaccination for an office, for example, it may be possible to raise capacity to 100 percent from the present 50 percent,” he said.

Reaching the vaccination goal in these micro communities could eventually hasten attainment of the higher level of herd immunity across the country. Concepcion is optimistic that this would help facilitate the safe reopening of the local economy after the pandemic affected lives and livelihoods in the past several months.

READ: COVID 'micro-herd immunity' proposal up for gov't, business talks this week

The government has kept community quarantine levels in the country at varying levels to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Some businesses such as tourism and dining in restaurants remain at partial operations as part of the State's restrictions to stem the outbreak.

Concepcion recognized that the nation must live with the coronavirus until "we are 100 percent vaccinated." "But remaining at a standstill is something that the Philippines cannot afford to do. The Philippines has a strong balance sheet, but it may not be strong enough,” he said.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who was present in the town hall meeting, welcomed the suggestions of the business community, citing the government backs the safe reopening of the economy.

Duque mentioned the government's new normal roadmap has been calibrated to consider both health of the people and the economy.

READ: COVID herd immunity eyed in malls, factories, workplaces

Concepcion said targeting herd immunity in offices and other communities would be possible since"vaccine acceptance was "high. “There are hundreds of buildings in the NCR. If we can have micro-herd immunity on that level, we can achieve herd immunity by next year and open the economy,” he added.

He noted that adopting the "micro-herd immunity" approach could prepare businesses to take advance of Christmas spending, election spending, and government stimulus.

“We need a roadmap to recovery. This is important so that consumers and business owners can confidently resume their normal activities; this will encourage banks to lend to businesses,” he said.