The national and specifically the local governments are to be commended for the success of the three-day Covid-19 vaccination drive. The real credit though goes to “We the People” for getting out there and taking the jab. In other nations the people line up to protest vaccines. In the Philippines, we line up to be vaccinated.
As we have said before, the vaccine is not a magic bullet for the pandemic, may even have severe side effects for a very small percentage of people, and must be combined with other health protocols. However, it is necessary despite any shortcomings. While you can point to countries that have seen an increase in cases and hospitalization after a large percentage of the population has been vaccinated, that is not true for the Philippines for whatever reason.
But we know it is the election season when one newspaper highlights the vaccination drive with the first thought that “government fails to hit 9 million target” and not the fact that “over 7.6 million individuals were vaccinated.”
You also know the election is coming when one candidate for president “urges national government to prepare for Omicron” as if that was a unique and “ahead of the curve” idea.
The headline Covid case count for the Philippines peaked and has been falling rather dramatically on a weekly basis since the middle of September. Likewise, on September 18, we were looking at 188,000 active cases. That latest number is down to less than 15,000. All of this is great news. But what has not been highlighted is this fact.
On September 5, the “Weekly Positivity Rate” was at 28 percent of all persons tested. As of November 28, only 1.8 percent of the tests came back “positive.” This is the lowest since the pandemic began in 2020. Note also that the positivity rate is not dependent on the number of tests. In March 2021 when almost the same number of weekly individual tests was conducted as now, the Positivity Rate was 18 percent.
The latest concern is the Omicron variant of the virus, which was first “discovered” in South Africa but had been identified in the Netherlands a few days before the announcement. The World Health Organization has been naming the variants according to the order of the Greek alphabet so as to “not offend the supposed country of origin.” In this case, WHO skipped the letter “Nu” because they felt it might be confusing. They also skipped the next letter “Xi” “because it is a common last name” presumably in China.
Actually, “Xi” does not make the list of the top 100 Chinese surnames. However, it is a “common last name” for the current president of the People’s Republic of China.
The world immediately reacted to the discovery of the Omicron variant. Israel closed its borders to tourists and all Israelis returning to the country are now required to immediately enter quarantine until confirmed virus-free by twin PCR tests. In Greece, unvaccinated residents over 60 face fines of €100 a month as about 17 percent of Greeks over 60 have yet to get the jab. People over 18 in Chile must receive a booster dose every six months to keep their pass that allows access to restaurants, hotels, and public gatherings. Tokyo, like the Philippines, has reinstated stricter border controls.
Yet, the World Health Organization said Omicron has been detected in 38 countries but there are no reported deaths so far from the new Covid-19 variant.
There is no reason to panic. But there is also no reason to let our guard down. Follow protocols. Stay smart. Stay safe.