President Rodrigo Duterte vowed to further lift pandemic restrictions on the economy once “most Filipinos” have access to a COVID-19 vaccine.

“If I see most of the citizens can avail of the vaccine in any of the health centers, hospitals – that is the standard. Then I will reopen everything in our economy,” he said on Thursday, March 4, at the inauguration of a school building in Valenzuela City.

Last Sunday, February 28, Duterte said he would allow face-to-face classes and declare a nationwide lifting of major quarantine restrictions if the country has a “stock” of two million vaccine doses.

Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr has taken this to mean Duterte wants a stockpile of this number of doses at any given time before loosening restrictions.

Duterte’s latest remarks come a day after a full Cabinet meeting where Department of Education officials discussed the possibility of resuming face-to-face classes in select schools.

The President, during his Thursday speech, said education officials and his economic team were “pestering” him about lifting restrictions and further opening up the economy. – Rappler.com