Vaccinated : To be or not to be

Peterson A. Oropa
Mahay Integrated Secondary School

Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, or Sinovac , this are the Covid-19 vaccines readily
available to protect Filipinos from the highly-contagious virus. But the government
officials acknowledge they have an uphill struggle to persuade many people to take it.
How ready are you to be vaccinated ? Confidence in the vaccines was broached- up
by the controversy happened of the government vaccination program linked to the
deaths of children to the anti-dengue shot from Sanofi’s Dengvaxia.
Everywhere, there is a growing concern over the specific vaccines that the Philippines
plans to use too — For estimated effectiveness of covid-19 prevention based on interim
data from late-stage clinical trial it shows ; Sinovac Biotech’s vaccine, for which one
study showed effectiveness of little over 50%, Johnson & Johnson affirms 66 % ,
Russian Sputnik reveal 92 % , Moderna confirmed of 94 % and Pfizer gave it over 95
%.
With COVID-19 vaccines pending eminent Food and Drug Administration (FDA )
review, the biggest hurdle to widespread vaccinations is simply convincing people to be
vaccinated. That’s harder than it should be. These vaccines face a double challenge.
The first is the growing mistrust of government and health authorities around
vaccination program . The second is the vaccines themselves.

Reading headlines of the world news concerning deaths after coruna virus vaccines
inoculation had add fears to the people . Yet , they claimed those had died were very
seriously ill patients with many underlying diseases and it was just a coincidental time
with the vaccination . The elderly and frail population are at the highest risk of COVID-
19 but they also appear to have the highest risk of suffering from a serious or even fatal
vaccination side effect. They said that is the part of the clinical equipoise that’s need to
be studied further.

The question is who is ready to roll up their sleeves for a COVID-19 vaccines ? The
government has ratified the Philippine National Deployment and Vaccination Plan for
COVID-19 Vaccines and is now set to implement the nationwide immunization
campaign to combat the coronavirus. Just recently the Department of Education set up
a webinar on the covid 19 and the Government Vaccination program briefing for school
teachers and further more Information drive was held to build up confidence for the
general public .
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire assure the public that the government
will ensure that the vaccines that will come in the country will be safe and efficacious,
and encourage to listen to the government there will be transparency in the process

A survey from the Social Weather Stations conducted in September last year showed
that 66 percent of adult Filipinos are willing to get vaccinated against Covid-19, with 32
percent saying they “definitely would get the vaccine” and 34 percent saying they
“probably would get the vaccine.” Meanwhile, a similar survey conducted by Pulse
Asia from late November to early December last year showed that almost half or 47
percent of Filipinos said they will not get themselves vaccinated against the disease.
In the meantime, the national coronavirus task force has determined the 25 million
Filipinos will be get vaccinated first. The list is led by the uniformed personnel ,
frontline health workers , senior citizens , and the indigent populations since they have
higher risk of exposure while on duty and to allow them to continue fulfilling their duties
in both the public and private sectors. Vulnerable groups such as the elderly and the
indigent population, are prioritized guided by the principle of equity , we just hope
teachers will be included in the priority list since we are also a front liners in terms of
educating children.
COVID-19 vaccines that are granted with Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) by the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are considered safe and effective based on the
available evidence to date. For fear of complications and adverse reactions , including
allergies just like all other vaccines, there are risks of complications BUT SEVERE OR
LIFE-THREATENING REACTIONS ARE EXTREMELY RARE. The benefit of protection
against severe COVID-19 is greater than the risk. Anyone who will get the vaccine will
be properly evaluated and closely monitored by health professionals to further minimize
any risk.
AS THE Philippines is ready to start Covid-19 vaccination by the second week of
February . For us in the school , the Mahay Integrated Secondary School teaching
staff are ready to be vaccinated .
Salus populi suprema lex esto , Let the good health and safety of the people will be
the highest law #