By Filane Mikee Cervantes/PNA
MANILA – The OCTA Research Group on Tuesday (July 13) urged the government to continue its prioritization of the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus 8 in its COVID-19 vaccination program.
OCTA fellow Prof. Ranjit Rye made the appeal in reaction to the government’s plan to distribute more than three million doses of the single-shot Janssen vaccines, developed by Johnson & Johnson, to island provinces, including those in Visayas and Mindanao.
“Unang-una, the key to success, short to medium-term success is to stick to a plan. Mayroon na tayong blueprint, iyong NCR Plus 8. Sana po hindi mabahiran ng pulitika ng mga iba’t ibang influences iyong ating plan. If we stick to that plan, the country will move forward,” Rye said in a Laging Handa briefing.
NCR Plus 8 includes Metro Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Metro Cebu and Metro Davao. These areas have been determined to be the most populous and of the highest density, thus putting these at the greatest risk for COVID-19 transmission.
Given the limited vaccine supply, Rye said prioritizing the NCR 8 areas is an efficient vaccination strategy as the government makes “each 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 will have an impact all over the country,” Rye said.
Rye noted that if the government could fully vaccinate at least 20 percent of Metro Manila’s population by August, the region’s quarantine classification can be reduced to the least stringent modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).
“The faster we can get as many people vaccinated sa NCR alone, ang laki pong impact for the whole country,” he said.
According to the Department of Health, a total of 13,196,282 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the Philippines as of Monday.
Of this number, 3,526,342 people have been fully vaccinated while 9,669,940 have already received their first dose as of July 11. – rir
