MEDIUM RARE
Jullie Y. Daza
Will the journey never end? Now DOH doctors are telling us we’ll need a third dose, what’s called a booster shot, to complete the vaccination process.
“DOH, they make me sick!” said Corito, who belongs to a family of doctors.
We’re a captive market, all 110 million or at least 70 million of us. As captives we’re helpless, herded this way and that, locked in or locked down. Why, not even Senators Cynthia Villar and Nancy Binay can decide how much freedom ought to be allowed fully vaccinated senior citizens. Why not let the children of the seniors decide for their parents?
In California, doctors and experts are still discussing the necessity of a booster shot; whereas our DOH, not one to act quickly or quickly enough during an emergency, has already decided. The need for a “third dose” was announced by two doctors on television a few nights ago. Since then I have not seen any follow-up headline or headlines. But with so much “vaccine hesitancy” blocking the way toward achieving herd immunity six months from now, this latest disclosure is sure to add to the doubting and the hesitating.
Listen to what this elderly Bicolano pilosopo told his neighbors: “Without vaccine, you die. With vaccine, you die.” A whole ideology in eight words.
A commentator who subscribes to a conspiracy theory advocates “no vaccine” on these grounds: First, a virus is born whose origins – man-made or natural? – have not been established conclusively. Next, a tsunami of trillions of dollars worth of vaccines is unleashed. Moving forward, even the fully vaccinated are warned not to let their guard down as they are not assuredly, completely protected from the virus. “What’s a vaccine for, then?” Same question asked by Senator Villar. (I think I’ll have a shot of brandy instead.)
Economists and public health experts stand on opposite sides arguing what’s best for the biggest number. Doctors, nurses, drug manufacturers will tell you safety of the people is their concern. (They have invented a new catch phrase: population protection.) Entrepreneurs, financiers, accountants talk a different language, mostly in whispers, comparing notes to argue that more people may have been harmed by the consequences of a long lockdown than the disease itself.