Wearing of face masks would become optional if the government's booster shot drive against Covid-19 succeeds, President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. said.
Marcos, however, said that easing of restrictions to that extent would be a long shot as his administration attempts to duplicate the national vaccination rollout done last year.
"et us return to the idea of what we did last year na magkaroon ulit ng (to have another) vaccine rollout. Gawin na natin ito para makatiyak na tayo (Let's do this now so we can be assured)," the President said in his virtual speech during his supposed face-to-face meeting with local government units officials in Malacañang on Friday night, July 8.
"At pagka maging matagumpay ang ating booster rollout ay makikita naman natin siguro puwede na nating ibaba ang mga alert level, puwede na nating gawing optional ang mask (And if the booster rollout succeeds, perhaps we can lower the alert level and make wearing of mask optional)," Marcos added.
The Chief Executive stressed that making the wearing of masks optional will not be enforced until it's crystal clear that it will be safe to do so in order to prevent the return of surging cases in the country.
"Pero hindi po natin gagawin ‘yan hanggang maliwanag na maliwanag na safe na talaga. Dahil although so far maganda naman ang takbo, hindi naman napupuno ang mga ospital. Ngunit kung hindi tayo maingat, mapupunta na naman tayo doon (But we will not do that yet until it is very clear that it's already safe. Because although, so far, hospitals are not overwhelmed, if we don't remain cautious, we will again go back there)," Marcos said.
The government is planning to implement a booster rollout for children in an attempt to fully open schools for face-to-face classes before the year ends.
During the meeting, which Marcos failed to attend after testing positive For Covid-19, he urged the local officials to support the campaign rollout.