By Robert B. Roque, Jr.
As the government’s vaccination program against COVID-19 finally took off last week, a tentative nation has since fixed its eyes on health care workers (HCWs) who have taken the initial jabs of Sinovac.
Last month, OCTA Research revealed that only 19 percent of adult Filipinos surveyed were willing to be inoculated, 35 percent were undecided, and a significant 49 percent were unwilling even if the vaccine is proven safe and effective. These statistics are depressing if the goal is to achieve herd immunity by inoculating 70 percent of the population.
Neither did it help that controversies had shrouded the well-hyped efforts of the administration to secure vials – overpriced estimates, smuggled jabs, botched negotiations with the world’s top vaccine brand, untended legislation, and documentation that prevented prompt deliveries… need I say more?
So, perhaps, that’s what drove Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana to roll up his sleeve in front of a medical officer holding up a syringe for a photo-op at the official launching of the vaccine rollout in Davao City last Friday. He wanted to promote the inoculation drive and show the world he is serious about his preference for Sinovac – the serum donated by China.
But here’s the problem, Mr. Secretary – do you take Pinoys for half-wits? Not only did your stunt sow confusion as various media reported you had taken the jab when you actually didn’t; you even showcased utter disobedience to doctor’s advice that people your age are not recommended to receive this particular vaccine. By the way, that doctor whose advice you conveniently ignored for show happens to be the Department of Health Secretary.
To end the confusion and the spell of disobedience, Lorenzana comes clean and admits the following day that it was “just a photo-op.” So, he’s not taking Pinoys for idiots, after all! This, my friends, is a shining example of why a recently released survey showed that Filipinos are more likely to be influenced to take the vaccine by HCWs than by officials in government.
International scientists and medical experts have pointed out that HCWs are better off inoculated with any COVID-19 vaccine available – regardless of efficacy and safety rates – than have no protection at all. Still, I’m holding authorities responsible for beginning the vaccination of our medical frontliners nationwide with a donated vaccine that’s 50.4-percent efficient. Why? Because of incompetence that delayed the delivery of a better brand – AstraZeneca; because Health Sec. Francisco Duque III “dropped the ball” with the best brand – Pfizer. And so the best we could offer our pandemic heroes was the least efficient in the world right now because it was the only one available.
He might not have said it that way, but that’s precisely what vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. meant when he said, “the best vaccine was the one that was efficiently delivered.” Again, are Filipinos taken for fools? Or does he believe efficient delivery is coequal to efficient immunity? Perhaps, what he meant was “losers can’t be choosers” or maybe even “czar-ot!” in gay lingo.
It’s no surprise that only 8 percent of the 240 personnel who signed up for Sinovac at the Philippine General Hospital showed up during the National Vaccination Program kick-off. Weeks earlier, PGH proudly declared it had a 94-percent acceptance rate for COVID-19 inoculation among its health and non-health workers – that’s about 3,000 PGH frontliners. But come Day 1 of the vaccination drive, only 124 took the jab.
As of this writing, the incidence of COVID-19 in Metro Manila was on a 12-day surge, registering the highest daily spike in new infections in five months and with quarantine facilities pushing well past the 89-percent mark toward full capacity. Can we be any more serious about rolling out these vaccines than silly photo-ops, please?
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