Vaccination mandated for commuters on Manila public transit

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — People who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19 are being banned from riding public transport in the Philippine capital region in a desperate move to curb spiking infections. The announcement Monday came as the Philippines’s vaccination campaign has been dogged by public hesitancy and delays. The highly contagious omicron variant has also recently fueled a surge in infections. From less than a thousand new cases daily during the Christmas holidays, the Department of Health counted a record of more than 39,000 on Saturday. The “no vax, no ride” policy will last at least to the end of January.