The Philippine government announced on Wednesday a “no vaccination, no ride” policy barring unvaccinated people from using public transport in the capital Manila.
The ban came as the southeast Asian nation recorded a new surge of COVID-19 cases fueled by the highly transmissible omicron variant. On Wednesday alone, the Philippines reported 32,000 new daily infections — its second-highest since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.
An order published by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said the new policy that would be in place from Jan. 17 in the National Capital Region — home to 13 million Filipinos — covered “all domestic travel to, from, and within NCR via public transportation by land, rail, sea, and air.”
Public transport operators are allowed to issue tickets only to fully vaccinated passengers who present proof of their identification and vaccination status. Those who cannot be vaccinated due to medical conditions and individuals assigned by their household to buy essential goods outside their area of residence are exempted from the order.
So far, only around 53.4 million of the country’s 110 million population have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
The ban came as the southeast Asian nation recorded a new surge of COVID-19 cases fueled by the highly transmissible omicron variant. On Wednesday alone, the Philippines reported 32,000 new daily infections — its second-highest since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.
An order published by Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade said the new policy that would be in place from Jan. 17 in the National Capital Region — home to 13 million Filipinos — covered “all domestic travel to, from, and within NCR via public transportation by land, rail, sea, and air.”
Public transport operators are allowed to issue tickets only to fully vaccinated passengers who present proof of their identification and vaccination status. Those who cannot be vaccinated due to medical conditions and individuals assigned by their household to buy essential goods outside their area of residence are exempted from the order.
So far, only around 53.4 million of the country’s 110 million population have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
