Arm twisting in order to force citizens to get vaccinated may not be the best strategy in pursuing this objective but providing free and accessible tests for everybody is.
PROMDI Party standard bearer Sen. Manny Pacquiao gave this view as he dared government to give free rapid antigen or RT-PCR tests for everybody to protect people from being infected with the dreaded COVID-19.
The appeal for free testing has been the call of many sectors who have assailed the policies being observed by government to pursue its vaccination campaign.
Pacquiao is among the political leaders who thumbed down the ‘no vaxx, no ride’ policy of the Department of Transportation.
The senator also questioned the absence of a uniform, reliable and integrated contact tracing mobile application as he pointed out that the country can manage the Covid-19 pandemic better through mass testing and effective contact tracing.
He said mass testing and systematic contact tracing would allow health authorities to properly segregate and isolate those who are sick without the need to curtail the basic rights of those who are unvaccinated.
This would also provide the government with the best tool to handle the pandemic without resorting to heightened alert levels and community lockdowns.
Pacquiao said that antigen testing facilities should be established in every barangay, in health centers, in malls, and even in workplaces. RT-PCR test sites can be established in quarantine sites so that only those who are tested positive in the rapid antigen test can be quarantined while awaiting the result of their confirmatory test.