Increased vaccination rate key to reopening after NCR ECQ, says British Chamber

MANILA, Philippines — Parallel policies stressing both health and the economy should determine decisions on whether to extend the lockdown of Metro Manila and neighboring provinces, the British Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines said.

In an interview on ANC's Market Edge last week, Chris Nelson, BCCP executive director and trustee, said the question is not an "either, or" one.

"It's better to try to take this enhanced lockdown now in order to try to save the fourth quarter and I think what's needed to be done in this moment actually is to run these things in parallel," Nelson said, when asked to react to rumors that the two-week strict quarantine of the economic capital will be lengthened due to increased COVID-19 case count.

Nelson said central to efforts under ECQ is to get the vaccination coverage in the Philippines up.

"We've seen the example from other countries, and I think the UK is a very good example where obviously the vaccination in the population is 60% adults and growing and the Philippines it's approximately 10% so I think the key for this lockdown period is, can we use this to effectively boost this vaccination rate and increase vaccination supply," he said.