Unvaccinated people are getting their jabs in Muntinlupa as a result of the implementation of the Department of Transportation’s “no vaccination, no ride” policy.
The Muntinlupa City Health Office (CHO) noted that there was an increase in the number of walk-ins at vaccination sites to get their first dose of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccine.
The “no vaccination, no ride” policy was implemented starting Jan. 17, limiting the access to public transportation to fully vaccinated individuals to, from, and within the National Capital Region (NCR) under Alert Level 3 or higher.
Under Tugade’s order, the “no vaccination, no ride” policy applies to domestic travel from, to, and within the NCR through public transportation by land, rail, sea, and air. It also covers individuals who reside outside NCR but who work in the region.
The order states that operators of public transportation should only allow access or issue tickets only to fully vaccinated individuals who need to show the physical or digital copy of a local government unit-issued vaccination card, a Department of Health-issued vaccination certificate or any document prescribed by the Inter-Agency Task Force together with a valid government-issued ID with picture and address.
“In general, a person is considered fully vaccinated (i) two (2) weeks after their second dose in a two-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines; or (ii) two (2) weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson's Janssen vaccine,” according to the DOTr order issued by Sec. Arthur Tugade.
Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresnedi has been urging people to get vaccinated as protection against the severe effects of COVID-19.
The NCR, including Muntinlupa, is experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases due to the community transmission of the Omicron variant.
Muntinlupa’s active COVID-19 rose to 4,109 on Jan. 17, an increase of 327 cases or 8.6 percent, from 3,782 recorded on Jan. 16.
A total of 619 new COVID-19 cases were tallied on Jan. 17 as confirmed cases rose from 32,723 to 33,242. In addition, 291 patients have recovered in one day while one death was added to the tally for a total of 587.