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COVID-19 PANDEMIC
Palace: Duterte order vs. unvaccinated people meant to ensure safety of vaccinated workers
By LLANESCA T. PANTI,GMA News Malacañang on Thursday said President Rodrigo Duterte’s order to barangay officials to keep people yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19 inside their homes is meant to allow vaccinated people to work in the event of a lockdown.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque made the response when asked to explain the President’s order to restrict movement of unvaccinated people
“Delta variant is here, it is tough to implement lockdown because we don’t want people to go hungry. The President’s idea is if we are going to impose a lockdown, [dapat] puwede palabasin ang mga bakunado para magtrabaho,” Roque said.
“Those who are vaccinated should be able to go to work even if we are on lockdown,” he added.
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The Delta variant of the coronavirus, according to the Department of Health is highly infectious and can infect five to eight people in one setting.
“While getting vaccinated does not guarantee that you won’t get infected with COVID-19, getting vaccinated is a guarantee against death due to COVID-19. The vaccine is our hope against the Delta variant and combining it with compliance with observance of minimum public health standards will open our economy,” Roque pointed out.
Roque then said while the vaccine supply is not enough for now, the country is on the right track in improving the situation.
“30% of those in Metro Manila are already fully vaccinated, and we need to vaccinate 50% for population protection [in this area]. We are nearing that point and more doses are coming,” he said.
Only around 7.2 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 so far. —KBK, GMA News