"Science should be the only driving force."
Allocating the bulk of the arriving vaccines to Metro Manila to achieve herd immunity in the region before the end of the year is plausible. By doing so, we would be neutralizing the epicenter of the pandemic in the Philippines and effectively containing the virus infection rate elsewhere.
Metro Manila has porous borders with Laguna, Cavite and Rizal provinces and Bulacan and Pampanga in the north. Many workers in the capital region originate from these adjacent provinces. It is natural for these workers to get infected with COVID-19 while doing their jobs in Metro Manila.
The OCTA Research Group research group and vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. both favored the move to distribute more vaccines in Metro Manila to speed up the government’s objective of achieving 70 percent herd immunity toward the end of 2021. The National Capital Region nearly accounts for half of the country’s 1.16 million COVID-19 cases. Inoculating over two thirds of the population in Metro Manila will be half the battle won.
A herd immunity in Metro Manila will be significant for the Philippine economy. It will translate into the most lenient quarantine rules and reopen most, if not all, business establishments. It will lead to a re-opening of face-to-face classes, reinvigorate tourism and bring back millions of workers who lost their jobs during the pandemic.
Shifting the so-called “NCR Plus” bubble to general community quarantine this week alone is expected to significantly boost economic activities in these regions. An estimated P30 billion worth of trade and business opportunities will be generated as a result of the looser quarantine rules.
Official estimates also show that an additional 400,000 to 500,00 workers, who lost their source of income when the enhanced community quarantine rules were imposed in the NCR Plus region, will rejoin the labor force.
Achieving the herd immunity goal in Metro Manila by the end of the year is realistic if all branches of government cooperate. It should not be used as a political tool given that the next presidential election is just around the corner. Science this time should be the only driving force behind this objective.