Roque defends ‘no vax, no ride’ policy
THE “no vaccination, no ride” policy is not a form of discrimination against workers but a just and reasonable exercise of the state’s police power to protect public health.
UniTeam senatorial aspirant Harry Roque stressed this as he pointed out that most workers already got their jabs against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) for free.
“There is no discrimination here because all you have to do if you want to take public transportation is to have yourself vaccinated,” the former presidential spokesperson said in an interview with The Chiefs on Wednesday.
The National COVID-19 Vaccination Dashboard showed 59,716,484 Filipinos were fully vaccinated while 6,077,315 already received their booster shots.
Artemio Tuazon Jr., Department of Transportation undersecretary, recently announced that unvaccinated Filipinos in the National Capital Region can still ride in public transportation until February 25 only.
“When you talk about the exercise of police powers, there inevitably would be violations of individual rights, but those violations become justified because of a bigger societal interest, and this is the promotion of public health,” Roque said.
He continued: “All those who disagree are welcome to go to court because that’s precisely why we have a judicial ruling.”
Roque said that while vaccinated individuals would not get seriously ill when they contract the virus, they could still infect others.
“We all know how infectious the Omicron variant is. Although the vaccinated ones do not get seriously ill or hospitalized, those unvaccinated can still become critical or even die, and also the possibility of infecting others,” he said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a third COVID-19 vaccine dose, or booster, can protect against getting seriously ill with the Omicron variant.
