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The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) on Saturday said guidelines on the proposed implementation of a COVID-19 vaccine bubble in several part of the country has yet to be approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF).

Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing said the “temporary” vaccine bubble was primarily aimed for economic growth after several sectors have been urging the government to create a separate transportation, dining, and other outdoor systems for fully inoculated individuals.

“Mayroon na pong rekomendasyon at siguro mas maganda pong paabrubahan natin sa IATF principals ‘yung ating rekomendasyon bago magkaroon ng final announcement, kung papayagan natin o hindi pansamantala ang vaccine bubble,” according to Densing.

“Isa lang ang sigurado natin diyan: matutupad po ito, mangyayari po iyan.”

Densing did not elaborate.

The Philippines is still struggling to get a hold of COVID-19 vaccine jabs, which was why the country is still implementing an immunization scheme prioritizing the elderly, health workers, economic frontliners, and the poor.

A recent Social Weather Stations survey showed that nearly 3 in 10 Filipinos have problems in accessing vaccination sites.

Earlier, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned about such bubbles from being established at present, saying it would burst.

“The concept of bubble for vaccinated people doesn’t actually hold true because you will continue to be at risk of getting infected,” WHO country representative Dr. Rabindra Abeyasingh said last week.

The health department echoed the WHO’s sentiments, and said the threat of the more virulent Delta variant would still be present even if an individual is vaccinated from COVID-19.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra had said imposing the “bakuna bubbles” may face legal challenges due to possible discrimination.

The DOJ has also cited the equal protection clause and still limited supply of COVID-19 shots as reasons why vaccine bubbles should not yet be implemented in the Philippines.

Despite this, the National Task Force Against COVID-19 earlier backed the vaccine bubble in Metro Manila but not nationwide.

Of the target 77 million Filipinos, 16.13 million have been fully vaccinated, while over 21.5 million are partially inoculated against the respiratory disease.