Freedom to choose COVID-19 vaccine

Introduction:
After 14 months of fighting against the Corona Virus, the vaccines are finally out of the market.
Countries all over the world started ordering vaccines from manufacturers. The Philippine
government has secured 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines called CoronaVac developed
by China's Sinovac Biotech and 30 million doses of the vaccine Conovax from Serum Institute of
India. While some of the Philippine mayors secured different vaccines on their own with the
president's permission like Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca.
But due to news and rumors circulating online about the side effects and efficacy of these
COVID-19 vaccines, people started to question its effectiveness. Surely, a person wants a
vaccine that has a good quality and will not put their lives in danger. So, do people have the
freedom to choose the vaccine they want? I believe that people have the right to choose what
COVID vaccine they want to take. Here are the several reasons why.

Body:
The Dengvaxia Scare
In April 2016, the Department of Health started a mass immunization program at school using
Sanofi’s Dengvaxia, a vaccine designed to protect hundreds of thousands of children from
dengue disease. In November 2017, the maker of the vaccine admits that the dengue vaccine
poses risk to the individual who is not previously infected with dengue leaving around 10 percent
of over 800,000 students who were immunized with Dengvaxiabut did not have a prior dengue
infection in danger.
This episode resulted in the public’s lack of trust and anxiety around vaccines in general. The
study led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) shows the dramatic
drop in vaccine confidence from 93% of participants who strongly agreed in 2015 that vaccines
are important to 32% in 2018. This summarized the cautious behavior of Filipinos around
vaccines until today.
The CoronaVac Vaccine Efficacy
Philippines books 25 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine from China’s drug maker Sinovac
Biotech. The first 50,000 CoronaVac vaccines are expected to arrive in February. The priority
groups such as Frontline health workers, senior citizens, indigent population, and uniformed
personnel are the first in line who will receive the vaccine, according to the Department of
Health (DOH). However, there is a concern everywhere about the specific vaccines that the
Philippines plan to use-especially the Sinovac Biotech vaccine. Recently, a clinical trial in Brazil
showed that the vaccine had a 50% efficacy lower than the 70 % recommended by the World
Health Organization (WHO). Although Turkey stated that the vaccine was found to be 91.2%
effective on the basis of a study of 1,322 people, the trial was small compared to the Brazil trial
of 12,500 people. This led to people and even frontline workers to refuse CoronaVac Vaccine.
The Vaccine Side Effects
The side effects of the vaccines are similar to other vaccines and said to be normal,mild fever,
pain at the injection site, and body ache. There are also some cases of serious allergic reaction
after the vaccination in other countries but none reported as fatal. Some rumors stir the social
media specifically the news of people who died after getting vaccinated. These cases are still
under investigation and not yet confirmed. Although vaccines have been found safe and
approved by health authorities in many countries, still many people are unsure because, while
they want to protect themselves against the virus, they also fear the other possible side effects
from vaccination, knowing that the vaccine is rapidly made. Considering that mumps vaccine,
the fastest made vaccine took 4 years to develop.
Health is a Fundamental Human Right

“The right to health also means that everyone should be entitled to control their own health and
body…”

- Constitution of World Health Organization

“ The right to health can be guaranteed by addressing elements of availability, accessibility, acceptability
and quality, while ensuring non-discriminatory and gender-based approach. State parties to the Covenant
have the obligation to respect, protect and fulfill the right to health. Regardless of their individual
capacities, State parties always have a core obligation to ensure the satisfaction of, at the very least,
minimum essential levels of the right. That is, aside from the economic situation of each country, all
States have the obligation to provide essential primary health care for all their population.”

- General Comment No. 14 of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

Thus, people ensuring their safety by personally choosing the vaccine they prefer is their rights.

Conclusion:
Freedom of Choice: the Democracy’s Essence
The freedom to choose is a basic right and it includes the right to choose the option that we think
is safe for us when it comes to our health. After suffering for almost a year from this pandemic, it
is alright to be cautious in choosing the vaccine. The incident from the past, that leaves us with a
trust issue is a reason. Making sure that the decision we are going to do this time will not worsen
the situation and guarantees our safety, it is our liberty. Hesitancy does not mean refusing the
vaccine, we just want what is best for us. This is the essence of democracy, we have our freedom
to choose. The government should not limit its citizens to one option, they have the right to
choose from many options because it’s their health that is at stake.