(The Virus and the Vaccine)
“This isn’t a pandemic of just a virus. This is a pandemic of emotion…a pandemic of pain and suffering that has to do with lost jobs and lost persons. This is not just a public health journey. This is really a personal journey for all of us.”–Star Tribune, March 23, 2021
Vaccines reduce risks of getting a disease by working with the body’s natural defences, building protection. When a person gets vaccinated, his immune system responds.
There had been a global clamor for vaccines against COVID-19 in the latter part of 2020 as stronger strains continued to be discovered. The working citizens are eager to go back to a state of normalcy in terms of finances, looking forward to the moment when most of the population have been vaccinated, so they can easily resume their jobs.
COVID-19 appears to have brought about untenable new strains that are still being observed and identified. They are labeled with the name of the country where it was discovered. For instance, a recent variant was that of India which came out in December 2020. According to the news, it spreads quickly, and scientists are worried that it might also be the type that could enter human cells. Having said this, the ultimate approach is indeed vaccines.
Below are the recently available vaccines.
1. Pfizer/BioNtech (Pfizer)
2. SII/CoviShield and AstraZeneca/AZD1222 (AstraZeneca/Oxford)
3. Janssen/Ad26 Cov 2.S (Johnson & Johnson)
4. Moderna COVID 19 Vaccine/mRNA 1273 (Moderna)
5. Sinopharm COVID 19 Vaccine (Beijing Bio-Institute of Biological Products Co Ltd)
6. Sinovac-Coronavac (Sinovac)
In spite of the number of leading pharmaceuticals that developed the COVID Vaccine (CoVax), more cases are still surfacing. Whom were known to be immune to the COVID virus at the start–children of 12 years old and above–have already been added to the list of those eligible for vaccination.
The demand for the virus seems to have become higher as the scope of the vaccine grows wider. The scare due to the variants’ mutation, transmission rate, and characteristic to even reject the vaccine are not being discounted and are within a heightened consideration.
Clearly, the so-called CoVax has become available, courtesy of several phatmaceutical companies, but why is its global distribution seems taking a lifetime?
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex, via their Archwell Online Channel, recently put forward their campaign for global vaccine equality: “Vax Live: The Concert to Reunite the World,” to call on world leaders to make COVID-19 vaccines available for everyone. They have garnered $53.8M in commitments, even before the show aired on May 8, 2021. As of this writing, the amount of CoVax pledges has reached 10 million doses.
Most people around the world perhaps wanted to go back to normalcy. Many are eager to get re-employed, to be able to receive again the salary that they lost. Those who have grown accustomed to conducting businesses online can continue to do so for as long as it is beneficial and rewarding for them.
Fact of the matter, we don’t need celebrities to do campaigns for everyone’s sake around the world. Each country has its own government that should be committed and dedicated to the welfare of the people whom they have sworn to protect and care for. And about those pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the vaccines, what are they waiting for? Or is it the governments that needed a wakeup call, for them to act up efficiently and effectively? At this point in time, both governments and COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers should go hand-in-hand and act fast. I believe, while it is aptly needed, revenue should not be the driving force but the conscientious effort to help the citizenry.
Everyone, especially those who have more capacity than others, is encouraged to look beyond where they are for global vaccine equity and to help combat this virus in a shorter period of time. What the world needs now are more people with heightened sense of kindness, altruism, and compassion; the noble acts of whom will surely go down in the history of humankind.
*Currently working at the Philippine International Convention Center, where she began services 22 years ago, Kathryn Valladolid Ebrahim is an alumna of St. Scholastica’s College–Manila; she finished a degree in Bachelor of Arts, major in Sociology, at the University of Santó Tomás; drawing and writing are her primary avocations.
