Gov’t, private sector urged to transition to ‘next normal’

Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion has called on the government and the private sector to prepare for the “next normal,” as he suggested the “segregation” of the vaccinated and unvaccinated consumers.

Concepcion has again pushed for the issuance of a vaccine pass, which for now he said could be the vaccine card issued by local government units. In a statement on Thursday, he cited ways by which these passes could be used, such as for travel and consumption.

A vaccine pass, he said, should exempt the fully vaccinated from having to get an RT-PCR test when they want to travel around the country. Moreover, this would allow restaurants and other establishments with the required health and safety protocols to go beyond their imposed limits and accept more fully vaccinated guests.

“Areas of high-risk category like arenas, movie theaters, bars, and the like, [can have] segregation where the vaccinated can stay indoors and the unvaccinated [stay] outdoors. The United States is applying this now and some are not accepting those who are not vaccinated. These are some examples of what the private sector will propose,” he said.

“We have to give the vaccinated population greater mobility as soon as we achieve the minimum of population protection. Doing so will go a long way in reviving some of our battered sectors such as tourism and hospitality,” Concepcion said. —Roy Stephen C. Canivel