Vaccination: a Protection, not an Option
Amidst pandemic turmoil, our life is on our own hand- if we will be either
“Vaccinate” or “Suffocate”? Public health is in the verge of threat where everyone can be a
prey for the deadly virus (SARS-CoV2) since majority of the population is susceptible from
the harm of COVID-19, which indeed with this devastating situation is an obligatory to face
albeit we’re not equipped enough with knowledge to combat against it. However, with the aid
of 21st century science and innovative technologies with advanced research, rays of hope start
to grow within us that will certainly radiate beyond.
In our aim to attain COVID-free community, science takes a crucial role for this word
of desire to have an action that fire. As a matter of fact, this global health crisis is an horrible
issue that widespread uncertainty, worries, and fear across the public community, wherefore
coronavirus disease set a various impacts on Health concern, Economic progression,
Religion’s stability, Political organization, and in Science development. In accordance with
Bloomberg School of Public Health, the report mentioned that stopping SARS-CoV2 will
require a substantial percentage of the population to be immune. However, concern start to
rise among the humankind which is the refusal to take vaccination for SARS-CoV2 due to the
past allegation of Dengvaxia.
Due to the suffering of dengue outbreak in our history, the late 15 th President of the
philippine Benigno Simeon Aquino III made a decision to create a vaccine in an aim to
reduce the dengue morbidity by atleast 25% by 2022 and to make the Philippines a dengue
free nation. The made vaccine in 2016 was named as Dengvaxia. However, in an attempt at
2016 to run dengue vaccination programme ended abruptly when the efficacy and the safety
of the vaccine was called into a question. In accordance with the Department of Health which
bared the findings of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH)
Dengue Investigative Task Force, says 3 out of 14 kids died of dengue after dengvaxia shot
has been due to vaccine failure but this requires further validation. Despite of extensive
research, the cause of death of the cases claimed linked to the dengvaxia studied by UP-PGH
are still unknown due to lack of information. After a long process of study, a research found
that the dengvaxia has 84% efficacy against severe cases. However, dengvaxia is not
approved for use in individuals not previously infected by any dengue virus. Those not
previously not infected are at increased risk for severe dengue disease when vaccinated and
subsequently infected with dengue virus.
With all of this vaccination scandal led the Filipino community to become suddenly
afraid of getting vaccination which made a great impact on our present global crisis, the
transmission of SARS-CoV2, for every Pilipino to the point of letting some of the population
be against for taking COVID-19 vaccination that will indeed destroy our desire for attaining
herd immunity. In this case, how we possibly obtain COVID-free nation if everyone was
conquer by their own fear and letting that fear hinder them to become an effective and law
abiding citizen within our country?
On May 21, 2021, a research found that only 3 out of 10 Filipinos would be willing to
get vaccinated against COVID-19. Through a survey conducted from April 28 to May2, 2021
by non-commissioned Social Weather Stations (SWS) launched that only 32% of adult
Filipinos are willing to get vaccinated if they had a “chance to be given a free vaccine that
can prevent COVID-19 which has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration”,
while 33% are unwilling to get vaccinated, and 35% others were uncertain.
Herd immunity is achieved when most of the population approximately 80% is
immune to an infectious disease; this provides indirect protection to those who are not
immune to the disease and 4 out of 5 people who encounter someone bearing with the disease
won’t get sick. In this way, the spread of contagious disease is kept under control because the
higher the level of immunity, the larger the benefit, and this is the enough reason why is it
important to get as many people as possible vaccinated. However, with the data news report
provided by the SWS can certainly tell that Philippines would not be free from the chain of
suffering cause by coronavirus disease as long as everyone made the vaccination as an option
rather than considering it as an opportunity, as indeed COVID vaccine is a protection and a
protection must not be an option among us.
In terms of vaccine efficacy and effectiveness, a data from Department of Health
shows the reliability of all the vaccine that has been produced purposely for immunization
and protection against the threat and danger of the deadly virus, in which the report tell that
AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine is 70.4% overall VE against asymptomatic cases, Sinovac
CoronaVac is 65% to 91% VE, Gamaleya Sputnik V is 91.6% overall VE against
symptomatic cases and 100% VE against moderate or severe cases, Johnson Johnson’s
Jansssen is 66.9% against confirmed moderate to severe cases and 85% effective for
preventing severe cases, Bharat BioTech is 80.6% overall VE against PCR-confirmed
asymptomatic, Pfizer-BioNtech is 95% against symptomatic cases, and lastly Moderna is
94.1% overall VE against symptomatic cases and 100% VE against severe cases.
After a year and month of having hard-time with this pandemic, don’t we must be
delight for our health since vaccination start to roll out in every nation, don’t we must be feel
excited for it especially that this vaccination can put the virus into an end, and don’t we must
be feel assured for our life since the efficacy of vaccination is proven scientifically. There is
no other reason for the public to perceive the vaccination as dangerous because first of all if
anything improved and made by science is unsure then why science define as systematize
body of knowledge based on facts, it is called science for a purpose and vaccination serves as
protection for a reason.
In our life with the threat of respiratory disease, everyone on population desire to
survive and live our world again with health danger free. At this time where initiation of
vaccination programme occur, everyone must take the vaccine as compulsory and perceive it
as a prerequisite for being a patriotic yet responsible fellow country-men because if we as
health concerned citizen don’t want to suffocate until death then we must start to advocate
ourselves with pragmatic knowledge than dogmatic belief, and to apprehend the vaccination
as silver bullet inorder to see our situation with silver-lining. After all, we don’t know that
someday with this situation we face can be an anecdote for past emblem and resiliency or
antidote for future problem and emergency?
