Concepcion reiterates call to redefine 'fully vaxxed;' pleads for more time to catch up on boosters

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion has appealed once again to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Department of Health (DOH) to give certain areas ample lead time to increase their fully vaccinated rate, including booster shots, when they redefine the term “fully vaccinated."

Concepcion issued the appeal to Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire after she claimed that some policies, including alert levels, will be affected once the agency updates the term “fully vaccinated” to include booster doses.

“The IATF should give a bit of lead time for some areas to reach a higher fully vaxxed rate, including booster shots. At the same time, it should also consider lowering the criteria set for Alert Level 1,” Concepcion said.

The Go Negosyo founder stressed the need to maintain low alert levels in the safest possible way as the country’s economy remains in the recovery phase from the effects of the pandemic.

“The best thing to do is encourage people to take booster shots but not penalize businesses by bringing up alert levels if booster targets are not reached. But the government should set it at realistic levels, like maybe 50 percent as a start and give ample time to for areas achieve its objective,” he said.

An area with a 70 percent fully vaccinated rate and 80 percent vaccinated rate for the A2 category can be placed under Alert Level 1.

Concepcion said the move would also help the government save at least 80 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines worth around P40 billion and avoid experiencing the surge in various countries due to the emergence of multiple variants.

“We are not saying that it should be imposed right away. That’s why we are proposing that it must be adopted in 60 or even up to 90 days to allow areas to catch up and ramp up their booster vaccinations,” Concepcion emphasized.

“If we don't, it will result not only in higher alert levels, but lockdowns will happen again. We can't afford to have that because it will have an impact on our economy,” he added.

As of the last tally, 12,477,480 Filipinos, or 13.86 percent, have already received booster shots, while fully vaccinated individuals have reached 66,652,616 or 74.05 percent.

With the efficacy of the first two doses waning after five to six months, Concepcion has urged Filipinos to get their booster shot to obtain an additional layer of protection against Covid-19. Several doctors and medical experts also came out with statements recently stressing the need to increase the country’s booster vaccination rate.

“We must provide booster shots to more people due to waning immunity. What is at stake here is our own protection from Covid, and the 80 million doses of vaccines we have must be consumed before they expire,” he pointed out.