The soaring prices of fuel and goods in the country poses a bigger threat and not the Omicron variant and rising infection rates, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said on Saturday, June 11, as he warned against making first Covid-19 booster shot mandatory.
The country should instead drop the mindset that it is still in the middle of a pandemic to address concerns about fuel costs, he added.
“The more pressing issue now is the health of the economy. The situation has changed. Stagflation can become a reality at this point,” the Go Negosyo founder said amid fears over rising infection rates.
Concepcion stressed that the government should look at Covid hospitalization rate, which will assess the capacity of the country’s health care system.
In his opinion, it is “impractical” to make first booster vaccinations mandatory or quasi mandatory as suggested by Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque because limiting people’s movement will not help.
Concepcion questioned the practicality behind presenting vaccinations records when entering establishments.
“I have been traveling abroad and, except for when you leave the country, no one checks for vaccination cards anymore at the shops, at the restaurants,” he said.
While Concepcion said he still supports booster vaccinations, this was at a time when new variants were little understood and the gravity of the Russia-Ukraine crisis was not yet clear.
“It might be impractical at this point,” he said.
“Booster vaccinations are so low that if you start requiring people to present vaccination cards that show they’ve been boostered, you will limit the number of people who can go out and enter establishments.”
This was seconded by infectious diseases expert and DOH Technical Advisory Group member Dr. Edsel Maurice Salvaña who said that “continuing to treat Covid-19 as a pandemic despite its now-decreased risk for death is unsustainable” for the economy.
Both Concepcion and Salvaña believe hybrid immunity, plus the mask mandate, add a layer of protection to the population, as evidenced by the low hospitalization rates despite slowing vaccinations.
He added that the government should shift its focus in removing the state of emergency.
Lifting the state of public health emergency would remove the Emergency Use Authorization of current Covid vaccines, and would prompt the pharmaceutical companies to apply for a Certificate of Product Registration (CPR) in order for these to be available at drug stores and for private purchase.