THE DEFINITION of a fully-vaccinated individual against coronavirus should be updated to include a booster shot, according to Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Jose Ma. “Joey” A. Concepcion III.
Mr. Concepcion said in a statement on Tuesday that he has asked the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to consider the revision, which is also a means for stimulating faster uptake of available booster doses.
“I am proposing that booster cards become proof of vaccination, adding that local government unit (LGU’s) booster cards could suffice as proof of full vaccination as record-keeping and encoding on the national government’s vaccination database VAXCERTPH catches up,” he said.
“The validity of vaccine cards (should) be time-bound, taking into account the efficacy of the primary doses as determined by the government’s medical experts,” he added.
“Booster vaccine cards can take the place of vaccine cards 60 days from the date of an IATF resolution, as proof of vaccination for travel, work and overall movement.”
The business sector leader said booster shots are being pushed to as part of efforts to keep the country’s economy “healthy” and to avoid another surge in coronavirus infections.
“We are pushing for boosters because we don’t want the economy to suffer again should we experience another increase in cases. This is so we can continue going back to a normal life. Boosters will keep us and the economy healthy until the end of the year,” he said. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave