MANILA – The OCTA Research Group urged the government on Tuesday to keep prioritizing the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus 8 in its coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) vaccination program.
OCTA fellow Prof. Ranjit Rye issued the appeal in response to the government’s proposal to deliver more than three million doses of the single-shot Janssen vaccines, produced by Johnson & Johnson, to island regions, including those in Visayas and Mindanao.
“Unang-una (First of all), the key to success, a short to medium-term success is to stick to a plan. Mayroon na tayong (We already have a) blueprint, iyong (the) NCR Plus 8. Sana po hindi mabahiran ng pulitika ng mga iba’t ibang influences iyong ating plan (I hope our plan will not be affected by political influences). If we stick to that plan, the country will move forward,” Rye said in a Laging Handa briefing.
Metro Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao are all part of NCR Plus 8. These places have been identified as the most populous and densely populated, making them the most vulnerable to Covid-19 transmission.
Given the limited vaccine availability, Rye believes that prioritizing the NCR 8 areas is a good immunization approach because the government wants to make “every jab count.”
“And iyong NCR Plus 8 po – kasi po nawawatak – ang fear namin baka nawawala ang focus dito sa NCR Plus 8 po. Ang NCR Plus 8 po, kapag ginawang (priority) ng gobyerno, hindi lang niya tinutulungan ang NCR Plus 8, tinutulungan niya ang buong bansa, kasi babagsak ang Covid-19 cases doon sa lugar na iyon, mabubuksan ang ekonomiya sa mga lugar na iyon. At iyong effect ng dalawang bagay na ito (Our fear is that the focus is being taken away from the NCR Plus 8. If the government prioritizes the NCR Plus 8, this will not only help the NCR Plus 8. It will help the entire country recover because Covid-19 cases in these areas will drop and the economy will be opened. The effects of these two things) will have an impact all over the country,” Rye said.
The region’s quarantine classification can be dropped to the least rigorous modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) if the government can fully vaccinate at least 20% of Metro Manila’s population by August, according to Rye.
“The faster we can get as many people vaccinated sa NCR alone, ang laki pong (it will have a big) impact for the whole country,” he said.
As of Monday, 13,196,282 doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been provided in the Philippines, according to the Department of Health.
As of July 11, a total of 3,526,342 people have been fully vaccinated, while 9,669,940 have gotten their first dosage.
