‘Light after darkness’

BY ARGYLL GEDUCOS * MARTIN SADONGDONG * LESLIE ANN AQUINO

Malacañang said the Philippines is now seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as the country rolled out its vaccination drive against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Monday, a day after the arrival of 600,000 donated vaccine doses from China.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the statement as the government vaccinated first the healthcare workers, soldiers, police, and government officials against COVID-19.

The rollout started at six Manila hospitals using the CoronaVac vaccine manufactured by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac.

The first to be vaccinated was Philippine General Hospital (PGH) director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi.

In his speech at the PGH, Roque pointed out that March 1, 2021, was a historic day for the Philippines.

“Ang gagawin po natin dito sa PGH at iba pang pampublikong hospital dito sa Metro Manila ay pagsimula po ng pag-asa na matapos po ang halos isang taon ng kadiliman dahil sa COVID-19, narito na po ang liwanag,” he said.

Roque thanked health workers for their sacrifices throughout the pandemic and pointed out that they are the real heroes during this crisis.

“Nagpapasalamat din po ako sa ngalan po ng Presidente natin at ng sambayanang Pilipino sa lahat ng medical frontliners kayo po ang tunay na bayani sa panahon ng COVID-19,” he said.

MORAL OBLIGATION

Claiming it is a moral obligation, vaccine czar Carlito Galvez urged the public to get inoculated in order for the country to beat the pandemic.

Galvez as he led the symbolic vaccination at the PGH where he got a Sinovac jab himself after all healthcare workers were vaccinated.

“We will not be able to go to the ‘new normal’ way of our lives and our economy will not recover if we won’t be vaccinated. Getting vaccinated is a moral obligation of all people,” said Galvez who is also the country’s chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19.

Galvez said that the public should no longer wait for the “best vaccine,” seemingly referring to other brands with higher efficacy ratings.

“There is no such thing as ‘best vaccine’ because the best vaccine is the one that is safe, effective, and readily available to us now. What importance will it be if there is a vaccine that has a high efficacy rating but will come in the third quarter? We should get whatever vaccine arrives first,” he noted.

Dr. Edsel Salvana, director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of the National Institutes of Health at the University of the Philippines Manila, echoed Galvez’s call.

“Ang hinihingi ko sa inyo na tanggapin natin kung ano ang bakuna na andiyan dahil ito po ay makakapagsalba ng buhay,” Salvana said.

“The best vaccine is the vaccine in your arm,” he added.

The Chinese government donated 600,000 doses of CoronaVac after an emergency use authorization (EUA) was issued to Sinovac by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week.

The EUA, however, did not recommend the Sinovac vaccine to be administered to healthcare workers and senior citizens.

Healthcare workers have expressed their misgivings about the CoronaVac, noting the 50.4-percent efficacy rate for medical frontliners.

President Duterte assured health workers that they are free to wait for their preferred vaccine brand without them losing their priority status.

The Philippines is set to receive 525,600 doses of British-Swedish vaccine AstraZeneca from the COVAX Facility within the month.

The country has recorded more than 576,000 virus cases and 12,000 deaths, with infections at a four-month high as the vaccine rollout began. (with a report from AFP)