Concepcion: Private sector, LGUs must work to administer boosters

MANILA, Philippines — Former presidential advisers are emphasizing the need to engage local government units (LGUs) in line with encouraging more Filipinos to get COVID-19 booster shots amid growing vaccine complacency.

In an interview with “The Chiefs” on OneNews, former presidential adviser and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion said that he and the Advisory Council of Experts (ACE) are looking to conduct a campaign in the coming weeks to encourage more Filipinos to get at least one booster shot.

“Of course we want to see that the definition of a fully vaccinated person includes the first primary doses and the first booster shot,” Concepcion said.

“But the attention is really towards the LGU. I set up a meeting with (Department of the Interior and Local Government) Secretary (Benhur) Abalos to really encourage how the private sector can partner with the LGUs to campaign, so that our citizens can really focus on taking at least one booster shot,” he added.

As part of the group’s pandemic exit recommendations, ACE emphasized the need to ensure that at least 70 percent of those who have completed their primary vaccines are given a booster dose.

Concepcion explained that the 70 percent target could serve as an incentive for LGUs, where areas that can achieve this will be allowed to issue no mask outdoor policies.

ACE members include National Task Force against COVID-19 special adviser Dr. Teodoro Herbosa, COVID-19 Technical Working Group chair Dr. Nina Gloriani, Vaccine Expert Panel (VEP) member Dr. Rontgene Solante, Philippine College of Physicians president Dr. Maricar Limpin, health reform advocate Dr. Tony Leachon, infectious diseases expert Dr. Benjamin Co, OCTA Research fellows Ranjit Rye, Guido David and Nic Austriaco, economist Romy Bernardo, and Go Negosyo senior adviser Josephine Romero.

Earlier, ACE and Concepcion released several recommendations to help the country attain a “better normal.”

These include the adoption of a color-coded alert level system similar to one used by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Another suggestion is relaxing masking rules with the color-coded system.

Under the green alert level, masking will become optional outdoors but mandatory in closed spaces and public transportation.

In the yellow alert level, the LGU decides masking rules based on healthcare utilization rate, average daily attack rate and capacity of the region, while under the red alert level, face masks are mandatory both indoors and outdoors.

In a statement yesterday, Go Negosyo said Concepcion recently paid a courtesy call on Department of Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual, where they discussed the continuation of the non-profit partnerships with the DTI and possible collaborations to further promote micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) development.

They talked about the continuation of the ASEAN Mentorship for Entrepreneurship Network Project, which was recently awarded a $333,943 grant from the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund.

This brings the legacy project of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council-Philippines to its second phase, wherein small entrepreneurs can scale up to the regional level and the network of mentors is increased and expanded.

Concepcion also narrated Go Negosyo’s initiatives during the pandemic to keep the economy open and help MSMEs recover, while Pascual expressed his desire to see and ensure that, during his term, more MSMEs will grow from micro to small, from small to medium and, eventually, to become large enterprises.