LABIS na nababahala si Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion hinggil sa mababang ‘booster uptake’ sa bansa.
Kaya naman ipinanukala nito na i-redefine o muling tukuyin kung ano ang taong ‘fully vaccinated.”

“As of mid-March, our total fully vaccinated individuals is 73%, but those who have received their booster shots is only 13%,” ayon kay Concepcion.

Tinukoy nito ang data mula sa National Vaccination Operations Center.

Aniya, maging sa highly vaccinated National Capital Region, pumalo lamang sa 30% ng eligible population ang boosted individuals.
Sa mga lalawigan na may fully vaccinated rates na 75% o mataas pa, gaya ng Cordillera Administrative Region at Regions 1, 2 at 3, booster vaccinations ay nasa pagitan lamang ng 11% at 16%.

“These are not encouraging numbers,” ani Concepcion.

Dahil dito, ang kanyang panukala ay “fully vaccinated” be redefined as those who have received a booster dose.”

Ipinanukala rin ni Concepcion na lagyan ng expiry date ang validity ng vaccination cards, na papalitan ng booster cards sa oras na mag-expire ito.

Binigyang halimbawa niya ang bansang Singapore, ang validity ng fully vaccinated status ng isang indibidwal ay nakatakda lamang ng hanggang 270 araw matapos ang last dose ng primary vaccination series at ie-extend matapos ang receipt ng booster shot.

“While we are still okay right now, we cannot be sure about the second half of the year, when antibodies will wane for most everyone,” ayon kay Concepcion.

“Vaccines now in stock in the country are also set to expire by June. Beyond that point, where will get vaccines to address the waning immunity? The vaccines are available here, right now, and we are encouraging the public to take them while they still can,” aniya pa rin.
Ang Intensifying the booster vaccination drive is important so as not to “slow the reopening of the economy” and avert a “possible increase in cases,” dagdag na pahayag nito.

“I cannot stress enough the urgency of bringing back the vibrancy of our economy, and this depends on the integrity of our wall of immunity, and our wall of immunity is only as strong as the effectiveness of our vaccinations,” ang pahayag ni Concepcion.
Nagpahayag naman ng pag-asa si Concepcion na ang paglaganap ng booster vaccinations ay mauuwi sa kalaunan ay pagbawi sa state of public health emergency sa bansa.

“While Alert Level 1 has helped us move to a much better place, we should start to aspire to a downgraded alert level. We can only do this if we maintain our wall of immunity, and to do that people must take their boosters,” aniya pa rin.
Matatandaang, in-extend ni Pangulong Rodrigo Roa Duterte ang state of calamity sa bansa dahil sa COVID-19 pandemic hanggang Setyembre 12, 2022. (CHRISTIAN DALE)