Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose 'Joey' Concepcion III said hastening booster vaccination among Filipinos will not slow business activity but will instead benefit the country in the long term and in many ways.
In a statement, Concepcion said increased booster vaccinations would strengthen economic activity and help prevent the country from losing millions of dollars from the expiry by July this year of the 27 million vaccines it has in stock.
"Hastening booster vaccinations will prolong the time that we will enjoy more mobility," he said Sunday, April 10.
"Boosters strengthen our wall of immunity, making it possible for us to withstand future surges in cases," he added.
Concepcion has been pushing for the use of booster cards instead of Covid-19 vaccination cards by June this year. While the proposal is receiving much support from leading business organizations in the country, some raised concerns about its possible effects on businesses if booster cards are required to enter spaces and activities.
According to the Go Negosyo founder, they are the last people who want the business activity to slow down.
"What we don't want is for business to stop completely because we failed to act," he said.
"This is why we are proposing that people be given enough time to get their booster shots. It will not happen all simultaneously because people completed their primary vaccinations at different times," he added.
Concepcion said that would allow the country to sustain its gains and extend economic mobility because those with waning immunity will be updating their vaccinations as we wait for the provinces to catch up with their primary vaccinations.
Concepcion had earlier sounded the alarm on waning antibodies as booster takeup remains low. As of March 30, only a little over 12 million Filipinos have received their booster shots despite 65.8 million being fully vaccinated. Waning antibodies might also increase cases and send the country back into lockdowns.
He had then suggested specific measures to increase booster vaccinations, including:
- Redefinition of the "fully vaccinated" status to include a booster dose
- Booster card requirements for travel, work, and overall movement in lieu of the vaccination card
- A 60-day deadline, or around until June this year, to get booster shots
- The use of booster cards in VaxCertPH as proof of vaccination to address current backlogs and prevent the proliferation of fake documents
"We might not even need the mandate to implement this if we do it in phases," Concepcion said.
He said that it would become similar to restrictions set by the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases in which only those with booster cards or vaccination cards that are up to date will be allowed to enter enclosed spaces or engage in high-risk activity.
"We are doing the long game here. We need to have enough people who are immune to the virus while we wait for everyone to catch up. We don't want to leave people out or leave anyone behind," he added.