Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 30) — COVID-19 vaccinations will continue in Metro Manila — the local COVID-19 epicenter — during the enhanced community quarantine period from Aug. 6 to 20, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Benhur Abalos said on Friday.
“The vaccination will proceed,” Abalos told CNN Philippines’ Balitaan.
Aside from that, NCR mayors also asked the pandemic task force for a minimum of four million more COVID-19 vaccines to ramp up inoculation efforts — a request that has been granted, Health Secretary and Inter-Agency Task Force chairman Francisco Duque told reporters in an interview.
Abalos said that during the ECQ, the MMDA is targeting to increase the number of shots administered per day to 250,000 from the current daily average of 107,000.
The Inter-Agency Task Force will impose additional rules on Metro Manila starting July 31 before the region shifts to strictest ECQ next week.
These include a ban on indoor dine-in services and al fresco dining, indoor sports courts and venues, indoor tourist attractions and specialized markets of the Department of Tourism, like point-to-point leisure travel and staycations. NCR is currently under general community quarantine with heightened restrictions.
All authorized persons outside their residences, despite the vaccination status, shall be allowed to travel into and out of the NCR Plus which includes Metro Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, Laguna, and Rizal, Vergeire said.
Health Underscretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the IATF officials are against the idea to bar the unvaccinated individuals from going out, saying many people are still not immunized due to limited supplies.
“Ang punto po ng ating mga opisyales, wala pa ho tayong sapat na supplies dito po sa ating bansa para makapagsabi tayo (Our officials point out that we do not have enough supplies to say) that only [the] vaccinated can go out and the unvaccinated cannot go out,” she said.
“Ibig sabihin doon po sa mga hindi bakunado, mayroon po diyaan na talagang ayaw nila magpabakuna ngunit mayroon po rin diyan gusto niyang magpabakuna pero hindi pa siya nakakapag-access ng bakuna,” according to Vergeire.
[Translation: It means among the unvaccinated, there are people who do not want to get immunized, while some others are willing but lack access to the vaccines.]
She added “there might be legal implications” to this proposal.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier said there should be a law prohibiting the movement of those who refuse to get vaccinated since they are endangering others.
Delta, which is the most contagious of all variants of concern, has recently been detected in Metro Manila.
The DOH and independent research group OCTA both observed that new infections in the capital region are increasing again after several weeks of decline.
Treatment czar and Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega earlier told CNN Philippines that the Delta variant may be the culprit.
Vergeire said there is still no evidence to declare that there is community transmission of the Delta variant in the country. Community transmission means the source of infection can no longer be traced.
But the official noted that people must “act as if we have this type of transmission” so they will be more cautious.
The DOH earlier said there is local transmission of Delta, which means those infected can still identify how they may have gotten the virus.
