“Loose lips sink ships.” This American English idiom has often characterized President Duterte’s brand of messaging since becoming president in 2016. His penchant for shooting from the hip and his constant flip-flopping on what he publicly declares have kept his communications team scrambling to “massage” his seemingly thoughtless remarks.
For the past weeks or so, a video clip being circulated in various social-media platforms has shown Duterte declaring in a public address recorded on September 30 last year that Covid-19 booster shots are no longer necessary. In the same briefing, Duterte said that too many vaccines in a body would be dangerous, suggesting without any scientific proof that the dead virus from the vaccines could be “resurrected.” He added that getting “multiple” doses deprives other people who were yet to receive their first dose. Three months later, the chief executive would be heard urging people to “take advantage” of the country’s sufficient vaccine supply and get their booster shots to prevent the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant.
Although the Rappler fact checking team declared that the video was taken out of context, and that booster shots were approved by the Department of Health (DOH) only about two months after the video was recorded, the President still had not exercised caution in discussing sensitive issues that could affect the mindset of his devoted followers.
On Monday, in an appeal for the President’s words to be taken “in the proper context,” Acting Presidential Spokesman and Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said that Duterte has issued a public encouragement in December last year for the public to get their booster jabs.
Unfortunately, the harm has been done. The video has become a centerpiece of the anti-vax campaign perpetuated by people who supposedly “value their life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” as provided for by the Constitution, intentionally blurring the lines between fact and fiction, and science and pseudoscience. These science deniers remind me of some people I know personally who would rather get health advice from a “snake-oil salesman” than a licensed medical expert.
As of this writing about more than half the people I know have been positive for Omicron. The rate of infection is sky-high that even if it’s been declared milder than other Covid variants, health experts say it still has the capacity to cause death specially to the unvaccinated and to exponentially spread it to those with comorbidities, to the elderlies and to those with autoimmune diseases.
The anti-vax group has also found a willing ally in Public Attorney’s Office chief Persida Acosta who vowed to defend people whom the government will persecute for refusing to take the Covid jab or those who will be prohibited in public places for being unvaccinated. Acosta, who admitted to being unvaccinated for age and health reasons, nonetheless said she is not anti-vax. She confessed she has issues with mRNA vaccines and is just waiting for the development of protein-based Covid vaccines.
Acosta said there is no law that compels people to get vaccinated, and it is the people’s basic right to get the jab or not. There is, however, a huge disconnect in this argument. What about those who are likely to get the virus from the unvaccinated? Isn’t it the right of the State to control the spread of the virus, which has so far infected about 3.46 million and killed almost 54,000 Filipinos? I find it unacceptable that the rights of the anti-vax should reign supreme over the rights of those who also value life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness not only for themselves, but for their families and communities.
There is a provision in the Constitution that states that a law is no longer required when the protection of public health is at stake. In Imbong v. Ochoa, the Supreme Court ruled that this Constitutional provision is self-executory especially when it concerns the protection of public health.
Anti-vax people for me are no different from flat-earthers and Holocaust deniers. They revel in ludicrous conspiracy theories, such as their belief that vaccines kill more than it protects; that a microchip is implanted on one’s skin during vaccination for the fictitious “deep state” to control how people move or think, or that a vaccine is a carcinogen or a means to control population growth. I just wonder how these people could have lived a full life today without being vaccinated against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, smallpox, polio, and other jabs they had been given as a baby and over the years. Immunization is an important component of healthcare simply because it prevents children and adults from getting diseases for which there are often no medical treatments and can result in serious complications and even death. It may interest them to know that life expectancy has dramatically increased because of immunization.
Researchers at the University of Washington recently published a study in the journal Demographic Research, which shows a likely rise in human longevity by the end of this century. While the number of people who live past the age of 100 has grown to half a million worldwide over the past several years, there are a few who have even reached 110, or older.
Unless scientifically refuted, the fact is that Covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective. They were evaluated in tens of thousands of participants in clinical trials. Not only have they undergone thorough evaluation by the Food and Drug Administration using rigorous scientific standards for safety, effectiveness, and manufacturing quality, they have been authorized for use by the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization (WHO).
The good news, according to the director of WHO Europe on Sunday, is that the Omicron variant has moved the Covid-19 pandemic into a new phase and could bring it to an end in Europe (and hopefully the world).
“It’s plausible that the region is moving towards a kind of pandemic endgame,” Hans Kluge told Agence France-Presse in an interview, adding that Omicron could infect 60 percent of Europeans by March.
Once the current surge of Omicron currently sweeping across Europe subsides, “there will be for quite some weeks and months a global immunity, either thanks to the vaccine or because people have immunity due to the infection, and also lowering seasonality.”
“We anticipate that there will be a period of quiet before Covid-19 may come back towards the end of the year, but not necessarily the pandemic coming back,” Kluge said.
Top US scientist Anthony Fauci expressed similar optimism on Sunday.
He told ABC News talk show This Week that with Covid-19 cases coming down “rather sharply” in parts of the United States, “things are looking good.”
While cautioning against over confidence, he said that if the recent fall in case numbers in areas like the US’s northeast continues, “I believe that you will start to see a turnaround.”
For comments and suggestions, e-mail me at mvala.v@gmail.com