Gov’t urged to consider incentives for barangays, businesses that achieve vaccination targets

The national government should consider giving incentives to barangays and businesses that were able to achieve vaccination targets, according to the OCTA Research group on Friday.

OCTA Research fellow Fr. Nicanor Austriaco said barangays should be recognized for achieving herd immunity through perks such as shorter curfew hours. 

Businesses should be rewarded when they achieve herd immunity such as removing the face mask policy in the workplace if everyone is fully vaccinated, the molecular biologist said in a webinar organized by the Cardinal Santos Medical Center.

Austriaco also suggested that senior citizens who have completed vaccinations be allowed to go outside their homes but with masks. Indoor dining should also be allowed for fully vaccinated persons, he added.

Earlier, vaccine czar Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. said the vaccination program would prioritize areas of economic and social importance that have a significant number of COVID-19 cases.

These areas include the National Capital Region, Metro Cebu, Metro Davao, Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, and Rizal, according to the Department of Health (DOH).

Austriaco said at least 250,000 doses must be administered daily in order for these areas to achieve containment of the virus in October.

“Outbreaks will still occur during containment. There will be clusters of infections but this will not be able to spread widely. You will not really see the kind of surges that we saw in March and April,” he said.

To achieve herd immunity in these areas before Christmas, Austriaco said the country should administer 200,000 to 300,000 doses a day from June 1 to November 30.

“With herd immunity, the virus starves and the virus dies,” Austriaco said. “When we reach herd immunity, the vaccinated people will protect the unvaccinated people from the virus.”

OCTA’s Ranjit Rye said the government should work together with the local government units and the private sector to speed up the procurement and optimize the deployment of vaccines.

Rye also said the DOH must do more to educate the public on the importance of getting vaccinated against COVID-19 after a recent survey by the Social Weather Stations showed only three out of 10 Filipinos were willing to take the vaccine.

The Philippines has fully vaccinated more than 1.2 million individuals against COVID-19 as of May 30, the DOH had said. — RSJ, GMA News

(Virgil Lopez)