Cebu biz, govt agencies endorse vax program to restore consumer confidence, economy

MINERVA BC NEWMAN

CEBU CITY – The business sector here through the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) and other government line agencies in Central Visayas are optimistic that the government’s COVID-19 vaccination program can help restore consumer confidence and jumpstart economic recovery in the country.

CCCI president Felix Taguiam said that everyone must support the country’s vaccination program since it is crucial for the full recovery of the economy. 

“We all should get the vaccine, whether we like it or not. We need to protect ourselves.  It is better to get vaccinated than (having) no vaccine at all.  We need it to move forward. We can’t stop anymore. The word lockdown is already allergic to us businesses. It’s costing us money,” Taguiam said.

He noted that retail and trade has been adversely affected by the pandemic. Although businesses had started to open, sales are still down because the public is still afraid of going out.  He then called on the business sector here to set aside some budget for the vaccination of their employees.

According to Nanette Arbon, regional director of Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-7) that there are a lot of misconceptions about the vaccines, but she said she would be first in line when there’s a call for vaccination.

“It’s best to look at science. The fear about the vaccines is a product of lack of information. We need to understand the science of it. We need to get vaccinated so we can get on with our lives, so we enjoy the better normal,” Arbon said.

National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA-7) OIC-assistant regional head, Maria Sostheleen Padilla also stressed the need for vaccination and its critical role to enhance confidence in consumption to pump prime the local and regional economies.

Padilla noted that while communities have started to live with the virus, vaccination is still the crucial step to further enhance consumer confidence as the economy continues to recover.

According to the Department of Health (DOH-7) here that the government has committed to use P75 billion for COVID-19 vaccines for about 60 million Filipinos and that the country is expecting the arrival of initial 117,000 Pfizer vaccines from the COVAX Facility by second or third week of February.

Heavy preparations are in place and vaccine simulation exercises had been done last Tuesday here to prepare Central Visayas for the eventual arrival of the vaccines early this year.  Five to nine million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines are also expected to arrive in the country by the second quarter of this year from the COVAX Facility.

The business and government sectors discussed the critical role of the COVID-19 vaccination program for economic recovery in a “Mugstoria Ta” online forum hosted by Asec Jonjie Gonzales of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV), February 11, Thursday.