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DILG Chief to endorse to Marcos experts' pandemic exit strategy
DILG Chief to endorse to Marcos experts' pandemic exit strategy
A Cabinet member has committed that the proposed pandemic exit strategy crafted by a panel of medical experts will be endorsed to President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr.
Former presidential adviser and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion said that Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benhur Abalos will endorse the proposal which the government can adopt to help the country transition from pandemic to normalcy.
In a statement, Concepcion said "Abalos said he will endorse the presentation of the proposals to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr."
Abalos also said that he "will organize a meeting with the Department of Health (DOH) to initiate more vaccinations at the community level."
Abalos also agreed on the importance of raising booster vaccination rates to 70 percent of the eligible population which is included in the pandemic exit proposal.
“Kailangan ng isa pa. Isa pa para sa mga pamilya, isa pa para sa komunidad (We need one more One more for our families, one more for our community),” Abalos said.
With this, Concepcion also renewed his call to push for one more massive effort for vaccination.
“Complacency is really the problem. There is no sense of urgency because people don’t see what might happen if our wall of immunity starts to weaken,” he said.
Concepcion explained that re-infections are quite possible, and that cases of long Covid have grave consequences on productivity, and ultimately, the economy.
He echoed Abalos' statement that "we need to convince people that they need boosters."
The DILG Chief recently met with Concepcion and members of the Advisory Council of Experts (ACE), a group of medical doctors, scientists and academics comprising the country’s foremost authorities on public health, molecular biology, disaster resilience, data insight and analysis, and economics.
The group's proposal outlined parameters to ease the country into normalcy and encourage economic activity without risking the public’s health. It has been met with approval from the private sector, including several industry groups and businessmen.
Abalos further expressed optimism as the proposal was an initiative of the private sector, and that it puts emphasis on the importance of achieving high booster vaccination rates.
“The messaging is important. We need to tell them that boosters have become urgent with the start of in-person classes now only weeks away,” he said.