A party-list solon has filed a measure that aims to systematize the country’s mass vaccination protocols against coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
House Bill 8280of Ang Probinsiyano Rep. Ronnie Ong is proposing a vaccination passport for all of those who would receive their vaccine shots.
The bill is called Vaccination Passport Act.
As the country prepares to secure and roll out the needed vaccines to immunize the population against the Covid-19 virus, Ong said there is a need to ensure the unhampered implementation and maximization of the government’s anti-Covid mass vaccination program.
Ong said that the government must fully document the entire inoculation process to ensure that health authorities can monitor the efficacy of the vaccines and determine its side effects if there is any.
This passport can also be used as an identification system that allows people unrestricted access to public facilities and participate in mass gatherings without the need to use face masks and face shields.
He noted that some business establishments may opt to require people to show this passport until after the Department of Health declares that the threat of the Covid-19 virus has been totally eradicated.
The bill mandates the InterAgency Task Force (IATF) on COVID-19, particularly the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Tourism (DOT), the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr), to “coordinate and provide for a single internationally-recognized vaccine passport to serve as proof that a person has been vaccinated against COVID-19.”
He said the vaccination passport “shall be issued as a matter of right whether or not the person availed of the free vaccination program of the government or was vaccinated through personal and other means.”
The bill stated that the IATF, in accordance with evidence-based or internationally-recognized policies, shall list down and regularly update the exemptions or activities allowed for holders of COVID-19 Vaccine Passport such as international and domestic travel, including non-essential travel; employment abroad; local checkpoint and quarantine exemptions; opening of and access to some business establishments; and post-vaccination protocols applicable to Vaccine Passport holders, as may be determined by the IATF, in relation to rules on public gatherings, use of face mask and face shield, etc.
