MANILA – As more Filipinos are getting vaccinated against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), the Philippine Chamber of Commerce Industry (PCCI) hopes for a full reopening of the economy once the country achieves population protection.
“PCCI wishes for the full opening of the economy even if the herd immunity threshold is unmet due to the moving and elusive target of 50 to 100 percent inoculation of the population,” the country’s largest business group said in statement Tuesday.
PCCI acting president Edgardo Lacson has welcomed the government’s move to implement granular lockdowns in Metro Manila, instead of wider-scope community quarantine measures.
Lacson said the granular lockdown now removes the discrimination between essential and non-essential economic activities.
“It is a tacit admission by authorities that they will henceforth abandon the intermittent and harmful regional lockdown protocol,” he added.
But Lacson said any form of lockdown, whether region-wide or granular, remains disruptive and a disincentive to business operations.
“Many health experts claim it is impossible to achieve herd immunity as the virus keeps mutating and the vaccine is always behind the curve… (T)he Covid-19 virus and its variants will be here forever but it can be contained by simply observing prescribed health protocols of masking, handwashing, and social distancing,” he said.
The PCCI chief also underscored the need to accelerate vaccination efforts throughout the country to achieve population protection and avoid further lockdowns in the future.
“We must remove our overblown fear of this virus and the even greater fear of another lockdown,” he said.
As of Sept. 5, the country administered over 35.8 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine. (PNA)
