Gov’t must continue prioritizing NCR Plus 8 in vax drive: OCTA

MANILA – The OCTA Research Group on Tuesday urged the government to continue its prioritization of the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus 8 in its coronavirus disease 2019 (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 (First of all), the key to success, a short to medium-term success is to stick to a plan. Mayroon na tayong (We already have a) blueprint, iyong (the) NCR Plus 8. Sana po hindi mabahiran ng pulitika ng mga iba’t ibang influences iyong ating plan (I hope our plan will not be affected by political influences). 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 (Our fear is that the focus is being taken away from the NCR Plus 8. If the government prioritizes the NCR Plus 8, this will not only help the NCR Plus 8. It will help the entire country recover because Covid-19 cases in these areas will drop and the economy will be opened. The effects of these two things) 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 (it will have a big) 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.