SA COVID-19
ni Fely Ng - @Bulgarific | June 13, 2021
Hello, Bulgarians! Nagsama-sama ang mga business leaders at leading authorities sa rehiyon, kabilang ang Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, at Israel upang ibahagi ang kani-kanilang karanasan sa paglaban sa COVID-19 at paglahad ng kanilang nakikitang paraan sa pag-usad ng panahon. Ang web conference na pinamagatang “One Year in COVID: How Are We Doing and Where Do We Go From Here?” ay inorganisa ng GoNegosyo at nilahukan ng 15,000 participants sa Zoom at Facebook Live. Ang web conference ay isa sa marami pang program ng GoNegosyo sa ilalim ng Let’s Go Bakuna Campaign nito. “Our mission really in helping improve the health situation of the country is to help our micro, small, and medium enterprises,” saad ni Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo Founder Joey Concepcion sa kanyang pagbubukas ng web conference.
Sa web conference, binigyang-diin ni AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes ang kahalagahan ng pag-uumpisa nang paghahanda para sa post-COVID world. Nagbigay din siya ng suhestiyon sa paksa ng pagbibigay ng vaccination documents o certifications para sa mga nabakunahan na, “No government is ready with a vaccine passport. The tourism industry needs that, it needs some proactive action on that side,” saad niya.
Matatandaang ang ideya ng vaccine card ay binuksan ni Concepcion nitong umpisa ng taon. Sa kanyang ideya, kapag sinamahan ng pagkamit ng herd immunity sa NCR Plus region, naniniwala si Concepcion na ligtas na mabubuksan ang ekonomiya at maibabalik ang mga hanapbuhay. “By the end of the year, we have to at least attain herd immunity in the NCR-plus region, which is about 25 million people,” saad niya.
Dagdag pa ni Concepcion, dapat mabigyan ang mga nabakunahan na ng greater mobility. “Seniors who have taken the vaccines should be allowed to go out, people who want to travel to different domestic areas in our country should be allowed to travel under streamlined protocols. Through this increased mobility, the capacity for restaurants and other sectors would be increased, and this is where we can use the current bakuna card, or vaccine cards, being deployed and used by the LGUs. Then when we feel that this move should move into a national format, then we can have a National Vaccine Card,” saad niya.
Binigyang-diin din ni Fernandes ng AirAsia ang kahalagahan ng testing,“People are not talking about testing. There are better and faster testing methodologies which must be cost-efficient to the public.”
“We need access, building confidence on the vaccines, and of course, execution is very important. Vaccination, [then] herd immunity, then it will lead to economic recovery and [building] back lives, then normalcy in our lives,” saad ni Filipino health reform advocate Dr. Tony Leachon.
Si Dr. Robert Yap ng ASEAN-BAC Singapore ay naniniwala ring ang bakunasyon ay makatutulong na pabilisin ang muling paggalaw ng ekonomiya. Ipinayo niyang kailangang maging handa sa hinaharap at maging future-ready ang mga negosyante. “Look at the future of work, and how you can pivot your business so that you will also take this opportunity to be future-ready,” saad niya.
Ibinahagi rin ni Dr. Yap ang karanasan ng Singapore sa contract tracing kung saan lahat ng kanilang mamamayan ay mayroong mobile phones tokens na masusundan ang kanilang pagkilos. “Everyone knows where you go in all the places,” saad niya. “So when a situation happened...the labels were [able] to track everybody and ensure that they go for a test, find the infected people, and try to isolate them. These are the steps that we do very quickly to prevent this thing from being very big.”
Ibinahagi naman ni Schmuel Weiss, Founder at CEO ng Pass it Forward, na malaki ang naging papel ng gobyerno sa naging pagharap nila sa COVID-19. “[Israel’s] government and the Ministry of Health decided immediately to purchase and to secure vaccinations for the ordinary population,” saad niya. Dinagdag din niyang ang pagharap sa supply chain at distribution, pag-uulat sa mga tao, at pagsisigurado ng agarang pagbuo at pagkilos ng supply chain ay dapat masigurado. “With the proper steps, it’s achievable, big time.
If one of those major components are missing, it will not be completed,” saad niya.
Sinabi naman ni Tan Sri Dr. Mohd Munir Abdul Majid, ASEAN-BAC Malaysia Chair, na ang whole-of-nation approach ay dapat i-adopt. Binigyang-diin naman ni Dr. Nina Castillo-Carandang, health social scientist at professor, ang kahalagahan ng tuluy-tuloy na pag-alam sa pulso ng tao. “We need to know their doubts, their fears, their questions. We need to respond... We need to have dialogue and exchange of information with the people concerned, we need to embrace them, too, because we need a vaccine-literate and vaccine-protected public,” saad niya.
Si Josephine Romero naman, A Dose of Hope Vaccine Initiative Program Lead ay binanggit na ang Pilipinas ay nakapagbuo na ng kapasidad para sa testing ng bansa. “Hospitals and laboratories are now fast attending to these surges, so we were able to manage this,” saad niya. “Parehong ang mga equipment at training ay nasigurado na rin. Positibo ang pananaw ni Romero sa pag-uumpisa ng pagluwag ng mga restriksiyon sa bansa. We just have to be more attentive as people who are moving around; and as business leaders and influencers, attentive to our fellow Filipinos…The collaboration and the spirit of bayanihan, I think, is becoming stronger every day,” dagdag pa niya.
Ang mga intervenors naman na sina George Barcelon, Council Member ng ASEAN-BAC Philippines; Rosemarie Ong, Presidente ng Philippine Retailers Association, Inc.; Eric Teng, Presidente ng Restaurant Owners of the Philippines; Sherill Quintana, Presidente ng Philippine Franchise Association, Inc.; at Arthur Lopez, Presidente ng Philippine Hotel Owners Association ay inilahad ang mungkahi at suhesiyon ng kani-kanilang sektor na kinabibilangan.
Pinaunlakan din ni National Task Force Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer at Vaccine Czar Sec. Carlito Galvez ang programa at inihiyag ang pagnanais ng gobyernong matuto sa mga karanasan ng ibang bansa at kung paano nila isinakatuparan ang kani-kanilang vaccination programs, and hopefully, adopt their best practices.
Tinapos ni Concepcion ang webinar sa pagbibigay ng kanyang pasasalamat sa mga tagapagsalita at muling paghimok sa mga Pilipino na magsama-sama na at magpabakuna. “If you love this country, take the vaccine, it’s going to save both lives and livelihoods,” saad niya. “We look forward to a great quarter, a Merry Christmas, and we look forward to traveling in 2022, and hopefully, the vaccine pass or passport will start moving and materializing so that we can really, as an ASEAN country, allow our citizens to be able to visit one another and be back to normal times,” saad pa niya.
Ang Let’s Go Bakuna Campaign ay naglalayong magbigay ng daan at plataporma para sa mga Pilipino na pagdiskusyunan at pag-usapan ang mga issues at katanungan tungkol sa COVID-19 vaccine, harapin ang vaccine hesitancy, at pataasin ang kumpiyansa ng mga Pilipino sa pamamagitan ng education forums, webinars at town hall meetings, at multi-platform information materials na nakabase sa expert advice at testimonials. Ang “One Year in COVID: How Are We Doing and Where Do We Go From Here?” Web conference ay pinagitnaan ni broadcast journalist at CNN Philippines anchor Rico Hizon.
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