Malacañang said the government will not be issuing COVID-19 vaccination exemption cards that will supposedly allow those unvaccinated against the coronavirus to go out amid the ongoing surge of cases.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles as Metro Manila implements the No Vax, No Ride policy that limits the use of public transportation to fully vaccinated individuals and those unvaccinated or partially vaccinated but will access essential goods and services.
In his press briefing on Friday, January 21, Nograles appealed to the public to not entertain individuals who are supposedly going around and offering COVID-19 vaccination exemption cards.
The said cards are said to exempt the unvaccinated from the stay-at-home orders and allow them to ride public transportation.
"Hindi po totoo. Wala pong ganoon (This is not true. There is no such thing). No document like this is being issued by government," he said.
"Maliban sa peke, hindi po ito nakakatulong sa ating laban kontra COVID-19 (Aside from it being fake, this is not helpful in our fight against COVID-19)," he added.
The acting Palace spokesman asked the public to report to the authorities any individual who will offer such a card to them.
"Agad makipag-ugnayan sa mga otoridad sa inyong lugar at isuplong ang ganitong gawain. Pwede rin pong tumawag sa hotling 8888 para isumbong ang ipinagbabawal na gawaing ito (Immediately coordinate with your local authorities. You can also call the 8888 hotline to complain about this act)," he said.
Instead of waiting or looking for such an exemption card, Nograles urged the unvaccinated population to just get vaccinated, assuring them that all vaccines being administered are safe.
"Ito ang alok sa inyo ng inyong pamahalaan: Libreng bakuna laban COVID-19 (What the government is offering you are free COVID-19 vaccines)," he said.
"Dito ka na sa totoo. Dito ka na sa ligtas, epektibo, at libreng bakuna anuman ang brand ng mga ito (Choose the real thing Choose the safe, effective, and free vaccines regardless of the brand)," he added.
As of January 20, a total of 122,313,496 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered with 56,835,020 people being fully vaccinated.