We have not even made a dent in vaccinating enough number of Filipinos against COVID-19 to claim herd immunity, yet calls for possible booster shots, especially from US-made vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna, are already being made.
This week, the national government announced that they have inoculated some 3 million Filipinos already. I suppose many of these are just first jabs but the 3 million is still a far cry from the 70 million we are targeting to attain herd immunity.
But I am happy that more and more people are lining up to get vaccinated and are less choosy of the brand they’re going to get. I see a lot of friends posting their first jab and this kind of messaging is very powerful to encourage others to sign-up.
If you notice, however, many who got inoculated by Sinovac, do not announce the brand they got but those who got AstraZeneca, post their brand like trophies. It helps that the advocacy has now become, “any vaccine is better than nothing,” and there are more scientific articles now about the efficacies of these various vaccines.
Now that more countries are successfully gaining ground in their vaccination program, the talk has turned into booster shots as studies are still ongoing as to how long can these initial jabs protect us. Remember, not all of these vaccines have gone through trials of their efficacy against the new variants.
I was talking to a medical doctor recently and she said that the slow pace of our vaccination roll-out may be overtaken by the pace this virus mutates and the so-called herd immunity we want to attain may not work once the new variants take over in terms of the number of infections vis-à-vis the original strain.
Pfizer and Moderna have studies that show their vaccines are effective for at least six months and Pfizer already made an announcement that they may urge for a booster shot one year after.
What are booster shots for? Science tells us, as in the case of the flu virus which needs to be administered annually, a person’s immunity can dissipate in a period of time. Thus a booster shot is needed to provoke a stronger immune response for further protection.
Add to that the new variants – UK, Brazil, South Africa, India, Philippines – which scientists say show that the virus is “evolving” to spread more efficiently in humans. Thus, they are looking at the possibility of whether a different vaccine is needed to block infection caused by these new variants.
And this is the reason why there is a call in Congress to look into the possibility of booster shots from Pfizer and Moderna to those who were inoculated with Sinovac, AstraZeneca, and Sputnik. If we recall, the Department of Health made an announcement last week that there are 10 cases of the India variant already here which is said to be more virulent and fast-spreading.
I’ve been inoculated with Sinovac and there have been reports that some of those who got this vaccine did not develop antibodies as expected after their second dose. My niece who is a medical frontliner got fully vaccinated weeks ago and I joined her in getting an antibody test just to see if the vaccine worked in our system.
She yielded a much higher result than mine but I am still happy to note I am reactive which means it is working. I will get another test weeks from now just to check whether my quantitative results will go higher for my own peace of mind.
If not, I will opt to get a booster shot of Moderna or Pfizer six months after my second dose for further protection.
Red Cross will make Moderna shots available for P3,500. Of course since they are not supposed to be for profit, they qualified that the amount will be a sort of donation to cover costs of handling, personnel, etc., after an earlier announcement of Sen. Dick Gordon seemed to indicate that Red Cross will start selling Moderna vaccines.
Gordon issued that statement in order to help speed up the vaccination program. I think that is a good option for those who can afford to shell out some amount, instead of waiting for the government to call them who knows when.
It is not fair for President Rodrigo Duterte to imply that the vaccination program can turn into a class war claiming that most of the affluent are waiting for Moderna and Pfizer vaccines to arrive. In fact, it can even help the government save some funds.
In the spirit of fairness, the government must acknowledge that the private sector has done a lot since this pandemic started. From bringing in test kits, testing machines, PPEs and now to vaccines, the private sector moved faster than the government and even offered to give half of their procurement for the mass vaccination program. Yet, the government wants to control it.
To turn this into a class war is their way of covering up their failure.
Speaking of control, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque yesterday said that they may propose to make COVID-19 vaccines a condition for 4Ps recipients. How can they make that a prerequisite when getting vaccinated is voluntary?
It is true though that many of those who are wary of getting inoculated are 4Ps beneficiaries as mentioned by a barangay health worker here who said this group has been giving them a headache with regards to the vaccination program.
Roque contradicts himself when he said that while vaccination will remain voluntary, getting vaccinated will become a condition if the people want to avail of government cash aid. Tyranny at work. Don’t you wish its 2022 already?*