‘No Vaccine, No Ride’NCR bans unvaxxed from public transport starting Monday photo Danny Querubin
Travel Restrictions

'No Vaccine, No Ride’: NCR bans unvaxxed from public transport starting Monday

Jan 13, 2022, 9:18 AM
Rose De La Cruz

Rose De La Cruz

Writer/Columnist

The Department of Transportation starts piloting in the NCR the restrictions in public transportation of the unvaccinated to contain the spread of COVID 19. But this early, presidential aspirant Manny Pacquiao said getting vaccination is a personal choice. The World Health Organization warned that the Omicron variant is more dangerous to the unvaccinated.

THE Department of Transportation (DoTr) said it will enforce a “no vaccination, no ride/no entry” policy across all forms of public transport in the National Capital Region (NCR), to be piloted on Monday, January 17.

But this early, presidential aspirant Manny Pacquiao opposes this restriction saying that vaccination should be a personal choice of a person.

Statements like this are what emboldens those vaccine hesitators to be more adamant about this health safety measure.

“Para mabigyan ng konting allowance ang mga tao (To give everyone time) to prepare for this… Secretary (Arthur P.) Tugade (ordered the policy to be) fully effective by Monday,” Undersecretary Artemio U. Tuazon, Jr. said at an online briefing.

Last Jan. 11, Tugade issued Department Order No. 2022-001, limiting public transportation access to vaccinated individuals in the NCR under Alert Level 3 conditions or higher, said the Star report.

The policy applies to all domestic travel to, from, and within the NCR via public transportation by land, sea, and air. It also covers public transportation for individuals who reside outside the NCR “but work and/or travel to the same.

Vaxx cards

Passengers must show physical or digital copies of their vaccine cards issued by their local government units or the Department of Health, along with valid government-issued IDs with picture and address.

“In general, a person is considered fully- vaccinated two weeks after their second dose in a two-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines; or two weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as the Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine,” the DoTr said.
“Any violation of this DO by operators of public transportation shall be considered a violation of applicable general safety and health provisions under any concession or service agreements, authority or permit to operate, or other similar instruments,” the DoTr stated.

Pacquiao’s logic

Pacquiao said authorities should instead persuade the unvaccinated by explaining the benefits of getting shots, instead of using compulsion.

In a statement in Filipino, Pacquiao said “let us not treat them like criminals. Let us not deny them their right to work and buy their necessities.”

He urged the Department of Interior and Local Government, the Philippine National Police, the Department of Transportation, and local government units not to implement such restrictions if mandatory safety protocols are observed.

Pacquiao noted the need to respect those who remain unvaccinated out of personal or religious belief, adding that no law compels vaccination.

“There is no basis in any law that stops unvaccinated individuals from (moving freely) in the community,” he said. “Those who want to get vaccinated should go get vaccinated, but for those who don’t want to, let us give them the right to stand up for their beliefs.”

WHO warns Omicron variant dangerous for the unvaxxed

The World Health Organization said the Omicron variant is dangerous—especially for those who have not been vaccinated against coronavirus, the AFP said.

The WHO said the global surge in cases was being driven by Omicron, which is more transmissible than the previously dominant Delta variant.

More than 15 million cases were reported to the WHO last week — with millions more cases thought to have gone unrecorded.

But the UN health agency insisted there should be no surrender to the variant, dismissing the notion that it could be a welcome conduit to ending the pandemic.

“While Omicron causes less severe disease than Delta, it remains a dangerous virus — particularly for those who are unvaccinated,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.

“We mustn’t allow this virus a free ride or wave the white flag, especially when so many people around the world remain unvaccinated.”

The “overwhelming majority” of people admitted to hospitals are unjabbed, he added.

While vaccines remain very effective at preventing death and severe Covid-19 disease, they do not fully prevent transmission, said Tedros.

“More transmission means more hospitalizations, more deaths, more people off work — including teachers and health workers — and more risk of another variant emerging that is even more transmissible and more deadly than Omicron.”

Tedros said that the numbers of deaths worldwide had stabilized at around 50,000 per week.

“Learning to live with this virus does not mean we can, or should, accept this number of deaths,” he said.

Vaccine inequity

Tedros wanted every country to have 10 percent of their population vaccinated by the end of September 2021, 40 percent by the end of December, and 70 percent by mid-2022.

But 90 countries have still not reached 40 percent — with 36 of them still short of the 10-percent mark, he said.

“In Africa, over 85 percent of people are yet to receive a single dose of vaccine. We can’t end the acute phase of the pandemic unless we close this gap,” said Tedros.

Wealthier countries had made it “three times as hard” for dose-starved low-income nations by exporting misinformation rather than vaccines, said Bruce Aylward, the WHO’s frontman on accessing coronavirus tools.

The WHO says Omicron had been identified in 149 countries by January 6.

Some hope that due to its increased transmissibility, Omicron will replace more severe variants and see Covid-19 shift from a pandemic into an endemic disease that is more manageable.

But WHO emergencies director Michael Ryan said: “This is not the time to declare this is a welcome virus.”

Maria Van Kerkhove the WHO’s technical lead on Covid-19, said it was difficult to predict the road ahead and Omicron was unlikely to be the last variant preoccupying minds at the UN health agency.

“We expect the virus will continue to evolve and become more fit… we expect to see outbreaks among unvaccinated individuals,” she said.
“The virus is well on its way to becoming endemic — but we’re not there yet.”

Meanwhile Tedros said pregnant women were not at higher risk of catching Covid-19, but were at higher risk of developing severe disease if they did so.

He called for pregnant women to have access to vaccines, and to be included in trials for new treatments and jabs.

Tags: #DoTr, #unvaxxed #banned#publictransport, #WHO, #MannyPacquiao, #COVID19


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