No Vaxx, No Ride policy suspended as NCR shifts to Alert Level 2

The Department of Transportation’s (DOTr) No Vaxx, No Ride policy will be suspended as the National Capital Region (NCR) shifts to Alert Level 2 starting February 1, 2022.

DOTr No Vaxx, No Ride policy suspended as NCR shifts to Alert Level 2 starting February 1

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) announced last Sunday that NCR along with seven other provinces will be put under less stringent Alert Level 2 from February 1 to 15.

The shift to Alert Level 2 automatically means that the No Vaxx, No Ride policy will be lifted in NCR. DOTr Assistant Secretary Goddes Libiran reiterated that the said policy will only be implemented when NCR is under Alert Level 3 or higher.  

The No Vaxx, No Ride policy was implemented to limit the movement of unvaccinated (unvaxxed) individuals due to the spike of new COVID-19 cases. DOTr Undersecretary Artemio Tuazon Jr. said that unvaxxed individuals are more vulnerable to being infected by the COVID-19 virus.  

“Data show that workers who remain unvaccinated against the virus that causes COVID-19 are more vulnerable to severe and critical infections,” Tuazon said.

The DOTr urges individuals to get the COVID-19 vaccine

However, unvaxxed individuals should keep in mind that the DOTr along with the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) have released a joint statement pertaining to the No Vaxx, No Ride policy.

The three agencies agreed that unvaccinated and partially vaccinated workers in industries and establishments allowed to operate in NCR under Alert Level 3 will only be given 30 days from January 26, 2022 to continue riding public transportation. 

This means that unvaxxed and partially vaccinated workers will not be allowed to ride public transportation come February 26, 2022 in case Metro Manila shifts back to Alert Level 3. 

The NCR will be under Alert Level 2 until February 15

“We want our workers to get fully vaccinated especially now that there is no longer a shortage of COVID-19 vaccines, and there is a threat of highly transmissible variants of the virus. We are giving our workers the time to get themselves vaccinated,” Tuazon added.

Meanwhile, other areas placed under Alert Level 2 until February 15 are as follows: Batanes, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal in Luzon; Biliran and Southern Leyte in the Visayas; and Basilan in Mindanao.

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