NEDA chief backs pilot run of ‘bakuna bubbles’ in NCR

National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) director-general Karl Kendrick Chua said he is inclined to support the pilot run of “bakuna bubbles” proposed by the business sector in the National Capital Region (NCR).

It was Senator Sherwin Gatchalian who asked NEDA’s position on the said proposal 

“I would support the pilot of that because at this rate, I’d like to know what works and what doesn’t work,” Chua said during the Senate hearing on the proposed P5.024-trillion billion budget for 2022.

“Perhaps, Mr. chair, we can have it across the board, across the NCR, but gradually and slowly, in a gradual process. For instance, ‘yung capacity, we start at 10 percent, 20 percent and so on. I would not start with 50 percent or 100 percent,” he added.

Last week, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion pushed for a test implementation of “bakuna bubbles” in Metro Manila cities with high vaccination rates against COVID-19.

He said implementing the “bakuna bubbles” in NCR areas with high vaccination rates can contribute to the country’s vaccination program and at the same time test if it is the way to safely reopen the economy.

However, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra previously warned of legal challenges if the government pushes ahead with the policy, adding some could complain of discriminatory treatment.

Although the suggestion to have "bakuna bubbles" was made to protect the vaccinated and unvaccinated and to encourage people to get vaccinated, Guevarra pointed out that vaccines are not yet available in some areas.—LDF, GMA News