People have the right to be choosy

By Al S. Medoza

 

VACCINE or virus?

Trust or tomorrow?

Efficacy or emergency?

Those are three questions that come to mind amid debates on vaccine issues.

The government wants a Chinese vaccine but others prefer another.

The solution?

Skip the government’s offer and forego a free vaccine.

There is a saying that beggars cannot be choosers.

Are our people the beggars this time?

Of course, not.

As Senator Grace Poe said, if it is government money being used to purchase the vaccine, then that’s people’s money.

She has a point.

So, if it’s people’s money, then the people must have a say and not be mere followers.  Sunud-sunuran.

Not mere beggars but choosers all the more.

Your money gives you the right, the power, to do what pleases you for as long as laws are not broken.

It is then below-the-belt for Palace mouthpiece Harry Roque to say “we are not forcing you” to accept the government-sponsored vaccine.  Di namin kayo pinipilit.

That’s no way to treat the people, the bedrock of government power.

Show some respect—that’s the least public servants can do to deserve their calling.

How can there be trust if we use virtual gutter language?

It is bad already that there is distrust wafting in the air.

Let’s not aggravate it by rendering tomorrow uncertain.

For, to be trustful today makes for a safe tomorrow.

Efficacy becomes second fiddle in an emergency. Isn’t COVID-19 emergency per se?

And, as I write this, a breaking news zooms in: Pfizer vaccine was given an EUA (Emergency Use Authorization) permit by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for sale/distribution in the Philippines.

That should now give the people two vaccines to choose from: China’s Sinovac or America’s Pfizer.  For free.

More could be coming, but we don’t know from where yet.

Good for employees of McDonald’s, the giant hamburger chain, and Ayala Group of Companies as their employers will provide them free vaccines.

Very admirable, indeed.

Well, take it two ways:  The vaccine protects both the workforce and the companies’ clients from the virus.

Will the country’s other giant corporations follow suit, please?

Along this line, already taking the lead among Asian leaders was President Joko Widodo of Indonesia.

He took the first shot of a Sinovac vaccine on Jan. 13, triggering the inoculation of 181.5 million Indonesians—with 1.5 million medical workers vaccinated by next month.

In a break from tradition, Widodo said he intends to vaccinate Indonesia’s working population first and not the elderly, citing as reason the absence of enough data to prove the vaccine’s efficacy on older people.

Widodo also said two-thirds of Indonesia’s 270 population “must be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity.”

Now, as to efficacy concerns, who isn’t worried if a vaccine’s worth is far from perfect?

Why would I allow my body to be jabbed with a mere 50-percent efficacy when there are others more efficacious, powerful?

Life is choices, as I keep saying; even dogs prefer pork chops over dog food if given the choice.

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