File photo
MANILA – Economic activities are hampered during the two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Manila Manila that ends Friday, but the government’s vaccination program against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) got a boost.
“The big achievement during the ECQ period from August 6 to 19 is that 4.1 million people received their first dose versus 1.6 million from July 23 through August 5,” Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Carlos Dominguez III told journalists in a Viber message.
This is in line with authorities’ call for the public to take advantage of the ECQ period to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and help achieve the goal to protect more Filipinos against the virus.
The ECQ this month, which is the second for the year after the similar movement restriction level implemented last March 29 to April 11, is being implemented to address the spike in Covid-19 infections, especially after the discovery of local transmissions caused by the more contagious Delta variant.
In a statement earlier this week, the inter-agency Development Budget Coordination Committee (DBCC) said the government will accelerate the roll-out of its inoculation program in a bid to increase the number of vaccinated individuals which will help in the continued reopening of the economy.
The government is implementing this strategy, along with the imposition of granular quarantines and allowing more people to work, to ensure economic recovery while addressing health concerns.
“In the first half of 2021, our careful balancing of Covid-19 and non-Covid-19 risks allowed us to improve GDP (gross domestic product) growth to 11.8 percent in Q2 (second quarter) 2021,” the DBCC said.
Economic managers announced this week another cut in this year’s growth target to 4 percent to 5 percent from 6 percent to 7 percent on account of the impact of the two-week ECQ this year. (PNA)
