IT’S A MAJOR relief hearing reports that finally the vaccine against COVID-19 will be rolled out in Davao City starting Friday, March 5, 2021.
We got it directly from Dr. Ricardo Audan, Medical Director of the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) that some 150 health front liners will be the first batch of vaccine recipients.
And to boost the morale of the prospective vaccinees Dr. Audan said he will volunteer to be the first to be administered the vaccine.
Of course, the vaccine doses are the sharesofF Davao City from the 600 thousand doses donated by the government of China that arrived late Sunday afternoon at the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City. We do not have any idea when the next batch of vaccines procured by the government through the World Health Organization (WHO) Covac facility will arrive and when will the Davao City’s allocation reach here.
We are however, certain that if it will come in either early or late, Davao City will receive its rightful share. But what is important is that the massive inoculation program against the dreaded virus is already begun in this part of the country. If no one from the 150 health front liners mentioned by Dr. Audan will back out, we are pretty sure that the number will be a substantial reduction from those who would likely be carriers of the virus and contaminators to others.
Whether we like it or not, the 150 frontliners will continue to handle patients and could be COVID-19 positive. When they are not on duty, they will have to mingle with other people including members of their family. Of course they will continue to observe the various health protocols laid down by the government health authorities. But all these are no guaranty that if they have carried the virus anywhere within their body or PPEs they would not be able to contaminate other people anymore.. With the 150 vaccinated, definitely they are a substantial number minus the present level of potential virus carriers.
We can only hope that everything will be in order for Friday’s big day at the SPMC. Should there be any potential glitch it would be best if this can be looked into this early so that no deferment will ever happen.
And if we may be allowed to suggest to the local vaccination task force headed by Dr. Ashley Lopez, we believe it is now the most opportune time to launch a massive information dissemination on the locations of the different vaccination centers designated in the city.
We also recommend that the task force engage the different barangay officials to make sure that their constituents will be able to travel and reach the vaccination site on the prescribed time. We believe that it is important that the would-be vaccine recipients coming from remote barangays and are hardly served by regular transport system should be able to plan their travel time in going to the center and back home. Certainly their being on time at the vaccination site will be a major factor in the success of the massive vaccination program of the government.
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We could not really comprehend the reason why some health workers at the Philippine General Hospital (PGH) in Manila have to manifest their disavowal of the vaccine from China if they do not want it administered on them. Why do they have to gather in masse complete with placards chastising the government and the vaccine now on hand? After all they are given the freedom not to have it administered on them and to wait for the vaccine of their choice.
Some time we could not help but suspect their motive; that it is politically driven or of their strong bias in favor of Western country manufactured vaccines versus those produced by countries in Asia. As we have written in a previous column, it only shows the depth of their colonial mentality.
We do not know if the protesters against the China-made vaccine/s and most likely that of India which the government is also negotiation on, are aware that so many Western product brands are manufactured by Asian countries including China and the Philippines. May be they should go out from their haven and check it out in the roads so they’ll find out that Chinese-made vehicles mostly heavy trucks, are now dominating the city streets.
Yes, this situation reminds us that these protesters against Asian produced vaccines are the living legacy of previous President and leaders of the country who upon assumption to duty, their first desired destination abroad is the United States or any other European countries. Seldom did we hear previous leaders desiring to visit first any neighboring Asian countries.
Except of course when it is demanded of them by the country’s membership of ASEAN and other Asian groupings. Are they underestimating our own experts; our people working with the Food and Drug Administration? Woe unto them.
