Okay, we know it seems like people don’t care anymore whether they jam-pack a public space, but for those who still do, here’s a bleak prediction: these lockdown measures might have to stay in place until 2022.
Yep, that’s a full year, at least according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Acting Secretary Karl Chua, who based his forecast on the impending availability of a COVID-19 vaccine.
“The projection for next year assumes that we will have a modified GCQ or a relaxed version of that for the rest of the year because clearly, we cannot go back to normal life without the vaccine,” Chua said in a virtual press briefing, according to GMA News.
And even if we do get those vaccines as early as possible, it certainly won’t be an overnight process, too. According to a report by Rappler, the government has already come up with a priority list of who gets to undergo vaccination first — nope, President Duterte won’t get first dibs, despite him saying so.
Instead, the government will prioritize the 35 million Filipinos who are working as healthcare workers, essential workers from the social welfare and education sectors, uniformed personnel such as soldiers, police officers, and poor households and indigents.
Besides, getting vaccinated for COVID-19 doesn’t magically make the virus disappear from the face of the earth. After we get our own shot, we still have to wait until our collective herd immunity kicks in.
So yeah, you might want to push through with building your home gyms all throughout 2021. Sure, things might turn out better sooner, but until then, wash your hands, wear your masks, and steer clear of other people in public!
(Banner image from Charles Deluvio on Unsplash)
