Slow and frustrating

“Vaccines are safe, effective, and lifesaving.”

—Alex Azar

By Alex P. Vidal

IT is so depressing to know that only 43,835 Filipinos have been vaccinated in the last seven days, according to reports.

If this turtle-paced approach to fight the pandemic by health authorities in the Philippines will go on, many Filipinos won’t be vaccinated when the next President (Sara Carpio or Bongbong Marcos) prepares to move out of Malacanang in 2028.

If the United States can only extend the vaccinations in the Philippines, most Filipinos will be inoculated before the end of 2021.

Because of economic factor, there’s a whale of difference in the way the US conducts the Covid-19 vaccination compared to those from the Third World countries, especially in the Philippines. 

While the Filipinos and other Southeast Asian countries are facing a vaccine shortage, the Americans appear to have an abundance of the vaccines; the only problem is that some Americans are still hesitant to be inoculated.

New York Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, for instance, announced April 22 that beginning Friday, April 23, 16 mass vaccination sites will accept walk-in appointments for individuals age 60 and older. 

New York State will set aside a vaccine allocation to facilitate this expanded vaccination access. 

There may be a wait for those opting to walk-in at some sites depending on demand. Additionally, all proof of identity and insurance information, if applicable, will be needed.

“Every day our state moves closer to a post-pandemic future by vaccinating more New Yorkers, and we’re building on that momentum by making it easier for our residents to get vaccinated, expanding eligibility and opening new vaccination sites across the state,” Cuomo said. 

“We’re taking that effort a step further and making the vaccine more accessible to older New Yorkers by allowing walk-ins to get vaccinated at 16 mass vaccination sites. A robust vaccination program is vitally important to the public health, and we’re working 24/7 to get shots in arms, protect New Yorkers and move the state forward.”

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Here’s another email from the governor dated April 22, 2021 which he also sent to other New Yorkers:

Dear Alex, The dedication and determination of New Yorkers in fighting the COVID pandemic is stronger than ever and it shows in the numbers. Yesterday the positivity rate in New York State was 2.06 percent—the lowest one-day positivity since November 5. 

Hospitalizations dropped to their lowest level since November 29. 

Still, we have a lot of work ahead to get New Yorkers vaccinated and to achieve a sufficient level of immunity to defeat this virus once and for all. 

Help us spread the word and encourage your friends and neighbors to get vaccinated!

1. COVID hospitalizations dropped to 3,567. Of the 242,432 tests reported yesterday, 4,996, or 2.06 percent, were positive. 

The 7-day average positivity rate was 2.57 percent. There were 811 patients in ICU yesterday, down six from the previous day. Of them, 499 are intubated. Sadly, we lost 45 New Yorkers to the virus.

2. As of 11am this morning, 43.0 percent of New Yorkers have completed at least one vaccine dose. Over the past 24 hours, 177,255 total doses have been administered. To date, New York has administered 13,929,970 total doses with 29.7 percent of New Yorkers completing their vaccine series. See data by region and county on the State’s Vaccine Tracker: ny.gov/vaccinetracker. 

3. Starting tomorrow morning, New Yorkers age 60 and up are eligible for walk-in vaccine appointments. Walk-in vaccine appointments will be accommodated for these individuals at 16 mass vaccination sites across the state. See the list here.

4. Reminder that public and private employees in NY are granted time off to receive the COVID-19 vaccines. Last month, I signed legislation that grants employees up to four hours of excused leave per vaccine appointment that will not be charged against any other leave the employee has earned or accrued. 

Tonight’s “Deep Breath Moment”: A 17-year-old boy from Geneseo, NY, has an important message for all New Yorkers: Get vaccinated. 

After getting both doses of the vaccine at the Rochester Dome Arena vaccination site, Zachary Mogavero used his talent as an illustrator to express his gratitude for the staff at the site and to encourage all New Yorkers to get vaccinated. 

His design will be displayed as flyers and given out as stickers at the Rochester vaccination site. 

Ever Upward, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)

 

Don’t be afraid

“I am not afraid… I was born to do this.”

—Joan of Arc

By Alex P. Vidal

WE exhort our kababayans living in New York and other states not to be afraid in taking the COVID-19 vaccines even if they have no sufficient legal immigration status.

COVID-19 vaccines are available to people of all immigration statuses, we have been assured by the New York City Health.

Immigration status does not matter and no one will  be asked about it at the vaccination site.

Getting vaccinated will not result in a negative public charge decision or otherwise negatively impact any family’s immigration application.

While no one knows how long the vaccines will protect people from COVID-19, we do not know yet whether the vaccines will be needed annually, similar to a flu shot, or if an additional shot or booster shot is needed, such as with a tetanus shot.

It is also possible that no additional vaccine will be needed after the first two doses.

The clinical trials showed the authorized vaccines are reportedly all effective at preventing symptoms of COVID-19 and severe illness due to COVID-19.

There are ongoing studies of the impact on transmission that should provide more information later this year.

Continued research and time will tell us how long the vaccines’ protection last and whether people may need additional doses. Participants in the clinical trials will reportedly continue to be monitored, and we will learn more over time from the millions of people being vaccinated around the world.

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Meanwhile, three COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized for use in the U.S. by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA): Pfizer-BioNTech (Pfizer), Moderna and Johnson & Johnson/Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).

These vaccines have been shown to be very safe and effective in protecting people from severe COVID-19 illness, hospitalization and death.

As of March 1, tens of millions of doses of vaccine have been administered in the U.S.

These vaccines are reportedly “the best protection we have against COVID-19.”

No matter how old we are, COVID-19 can lead to complications and death. Even if we had COVID-19, it is important to get vaccinated because it reportedly lowers our risk of getting COVID-19 again and may prevent us from passing it on to others.

Also, getting vaccinated may protect those around us, particularly people who cannot get the vaccine, such as children.

Vaccination, along with other prevention measures, can help us end the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Below is the other information about the vaccines, including how they work, when and where to get vaccinated, and what to expect when you get vaccinated.

COVID-19 vaccines are intramuscular vaccines. They are given through a shot in the arm, similar to most other vaccines.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses several weeks apart.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine requires only one dose.

All three vaccines are very safe and effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalization and death. The most important thing is to get vaccinated, with whatever vaccine is available to us.

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Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is just one dose. All three vaccines reportedly cause similar mild to moderate side effects.

It is hard to directly compare the vaccines effectiveness since they were tested at different times and in different locations.

Johnson & Johnson trials were conducted more recently, when there was higher levels of COVID-19 transmission, and in countries that have high levels of the new variants of concern.

Even under these circumstances, the vaccine reportedly prevented hospitalizations and deaths.

A key difference among the vaccines is that only the Pfizer vaccine is authorized for people ages 16 and 17.

The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are authorized for people ages 18 and older.

Another difference is how the vaccines can be stored and distributed. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is more stable and can be kept in a refrigerator, making it easier to transport and reach people who cannot travel to a vaccination site.

For now, most vaccination sites have only one type of vaccine. The type of vaccine you get will depend on where you go. We have the NYC Vaccine Finder showing the type of vaccine given at each site.

It is normal for a virus to mutate (change) over time and for new variants to occur.

Several variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been identified. Some of these variants seem to spread more easily and quickly than others and may cause more severe disease.

This may lead to more COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths. The presence of these variants makes it even more important to get vaccinated.

The vaccines are expected to protect against variants detected to date, though their protection may not be as strong against some variants. Scientists are reportedly working to learn more about these variants and how they affect vaccines.

Herd immunity is when enough people in a population have immunity (protection) against a contagious disease that the disease is unlikely to spread.

As a result, even people who are not vaccinated are at lower risk for infection.

The percent of the population that needs to have immunity to reach herd immunity is different for different diseases.

For COVID-19, experts do not yet know what percentage of people would need to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity.

However, even before we reach herd immunity, having a large number of people vaccinated will lower the number of people who get sick and are hospitalized or die from COVID-19.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two dailies in Iloilo)

 

Iloilo, et al should reject ‘direct vaccine purchase’

“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.”

—Abraham Lincoln

By Alex P. Vidal

ALTHOUGH the City and Province of Iloilo are not among the poorest in the Philippines, they should nevertheless reject the absurd suggestion made by the country’s newly appointed “vaccine czar”, Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. for the local government units (LGUs) to purchase their own supply of coronavirus disease 2019 (COIVD-19) vaccines.

“I have raised it (with) the President but we are considering what he has been saying that it should not be that some barangays or towns might be left behind because they (cannot)afford to buy the vaccine. That’s what we’ll look into because we don’t want to (commit) injustice to those people who cannot buy it,” Galvez reportedly said in online briefing on December 19.

“What we will do is to balance it. We can allow it provided that the (instructions) of our President to prioritize the poor, the health workers, our service (employees) and front-liners could be complied with,” he added.

It’s unbelievable that the country’s “vaccine czar” has thought of giving this colossal responsibility of scrambling for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines to the LGUs even as an international effort to acquire vaccines for low-and middle-income countries has been struggling to gain traction.

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It’s good to empower the local leaders and take them to task for this historic transaction, but Galvez’s proposal is not only discriminatory, it is also impractical and downright scrappy.

Only rich cities like Puerto Princesa (which reportedly was prepared to spend some P100 million to but vaccines for its residents), Makati, Quezon, Manila can afford it—only if they will accept Galvez’s challenge.

It will discriminate against the country’s poorest provinces like Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Saranggani, Northern Samar, Maguindanao, Bukidnon, Sultan Kudarat, Zamboanga del Norte, Siquijor, Agusan del Sur, Eastern Samar, Lanao del Norte, Mt. Province, Western Samar, North Cotabato, Catanduanes, Leyte, Negros Oriental, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Sorsogon.

The procurement of vaccines for coronavirus and others diseases is the primary obligation of the Department of Health (DOH), not of LGUs.

But Galvez said, “Malacañang was considering whether to allow local government units (LGUs) to procure their own supply of COVID-19 vaccine.”

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Secretary Galvez should leave the LGUs alone.

The local chief executives are already encumbered and fighting tooth and nail against hard-headed violators of social distancing and mask-wearing protocols in their areas.

It may be too stressful and cumbersome for the governors, mayors, and village chiefs to be given this additional task reserved for our health department.

To avoid confusion, corruption and red tape, the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines should be centralized.

The Palace must designate the DOH to handle the job.

The health department can effectively distribute and manage the vaccinations by tapping all its regional offices and utilizing their manpower nationwide.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III should be the one to deal with the vaccine manufacturers like Pfizer, AstraZeneca, BioNTech, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Moderna, Novavax, Pfizer, and Sanofi.

It was reported that wealthy countries have struck deals ahead of tiny Philippines to buy more than two billion doses of coronavirus vaccine in a scramble that could leave limited supplies in the coming year.

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Predications by most experts that the 2020 or early 2021 was the soonest vaccines could be approved and rolled out came true with the start of vaccinations in the United States right now after Pfizer and Moderna have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

Both vaccines have undergone large-scale phase III clinical trials to assess their effectiveness and safety.

Pre-orders were rolling in.

The United States had secured 800 million doses of at least 6 vaccines in development, with an option to purchase around one billion more as early as August.

The United Kingdom was the world’s highest per-capita buyer, with 340 million purchased: around 5 doses for each citizen.

The European Union nations—which are buying vaccines as a group — and Japan have locked down hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines for themselves.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

 

Snow storm attack before the vaccines

“Snow provokes responses that reach right back to childhood.”

—Andy Goldsworthy

By Alex P. Vidal

WE will finally have the vaccines in the Big Apple.

But first, we have been warned of heavy snow and freezing rain in the Big Apple on December 16 and 17 (Wednesday and Thursday) even as the forecast was still on track as of this writing for a significant winter storm to hit the Mid-Atlantic, Northeast and New England.

The warning came before the “death blow” (the description given by restaurant owners in New York City of the guidelines issued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the suspension of indoor dining ) that started on December 14.

It also came as New Yorkers were preparing to start next week the largest emergency immunization plan in its history, delivering the first doses of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine to 170,000 high-risk frontline medical workers just as nationwide deaths and hospitalizations reach all-time highs.

New York City, which is still the hardest-hit city in the world with over 24,000 deaths, will get the largest delivery of those doses, for nearly 72,000 people, but it may still be months before the general public can get immunized.

Plans for rolling out the vaccine are still changing, and not everything has been made public.

The Pfizer vaccine was approved for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration on December 11, the first one to clear that hurdle. Moderna is set to deliver another vaccine for 346,000 people by December 21, pending FDA approval, with other candidates from AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson still on track to get approved and distributed in the coming weeks.

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More than 60 million people were reportedly under winter alerts, with forecasts of snow and wind that could snarl travel and knock out power to millions.

This will be the first major snow storm warning this year, the first since the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic inflicted a terrible harm on the people worldwide with the United States leading in the chart with 16.8 million cases and 304,000 deaths as of December 16.

The winter weather advisories or warnings have stretched from northeastern Georgia and western North Carolina to New York City and parts of Maine on Tuesday evening.

The National Weather Service warned us the storm brought snow and slick roads to the Plains, although it was set to taper off there Tuesday night.

Oklahoma City got 2.7 inches of snow, and the Nebraska State Patrol reported “plenty of slide-offs on I-80” Tuesday morning and urged drivers to be careful.

On Wednesday, the storm was feared to reach the East Coast.

During the morning, a wintry mix will break out from western North Carolina to northern Virginia, while snow fills in from Maryland through southern New York.

NBC’s Kathryn Prociv reported that “as the day progresses, the storm will march north on the I-95 corridor bringing with it a mess of rain or snow and even the potential for some sleet and freezing rain.”

On the southern side of the storm system, heavy rain and strong thunderstorms could affect the Southeast to coastal Carolinas, the NBC said.

By Wednesday night, a wintry mix will be possible for cities like Washington and Philadelphia while New York City and Boston will likely stay predominantly all snow.

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Heavy snowfall rates of 1-3 inches per hour are possible, including for the New York City area, and gusty winds could cause whiteout conditions and the risk of power outages, it was reported here.

The snow was expected to continue through the morning hours for the Northeast and New England and will end for all locations except eastern Maine by sunset by Thursday.

A widespread 3 to 6 inches of snow will be possible from central Virginia up through Maine.

A swath of six to 12 inches or more, and higher amounts locally, was forecast from Maryland up through southern Massachusetts with the highest snow totals possible along and just west of the I-95 corridor.

Some isolated locations at higher elevations could potentially see up to 2 feet of snow from eastern West Virginia, western Maryland into east-central Pennsylvania and northwest New Jersey.

For the areas across North Carolina and Virginia that could get the wintry mix of sleet and freezing rain, up to 0.25 inches of ice accumulation is possible, which could cause power outages.

Blizzard conditions may also be reportedly possible for coastal areas, especially eastern Long Island and Cape Cod, where wind gusts could exceed 40-50 mph.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor of two local dailies in Iloilo)

 

A matter of trust

“It’s hard when you’re always afraid. You just recover when another belief is betrayed. So break my heart if you must. It’s a matter of trust.”

—BILLY JOEL in “A Matter of Trust”

By Alex P. Vidal

MY Christian belief tells me I shouldn’t reject something I don’t understand; I shouldn’t disparage the proponents of correct thinking, law and order; I shouldn’t discriminate and abhor the merchants of good health and good tidings—unless they propagate bedlam and total chaos.

I should trust the authorities especially if they promote and uphold only what is good for the community, and what is best for humanity.

Trust, after all, is an attitude that we have towards people whom we hope will be trustworthy, where trustworthiness is a property not an attitude.

Trust and trustworthiness are therefore distinct although, ideally, those whom we trust will be trustworthy, and those who are trustworthy will be trusted.

“For trust to be plausible in a relationship, the parties to the relationship must have attitudes toward one another that permit trust,” says the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.

Moreover, for trust to be well-grounded, both parties must be trustworthy.

Thus I am one of those who admire, support and endorse the advent of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines—regardless of their origin and which pharmaceutical firm they were developed—as long as they have been approved by higher health authorities.

Why resort to pessimism when we can be optimistic in the time of pandemic?

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In this subject matter, I’ve been waiting since middle of 2020 (around June when purveyors of conspiracy theories began cultivating the fear of the COVID-19 vaccines, associating them to the “microchip” rumors in a bid to instill widespread fear among the gullible) for Bill Gates to say something about the rumors since he had been linked in this brouhaha.

In between, I found the story by British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Reality Checkers Jack Goodman and Flora Carmichael on the

speculation about the coronavirus vaccine, which had been ramping up even as the social-media posts from anti-vaccination campaigners were gaining more traction online.

“Why the microchip rumors don’t stack up,” Goodman and Carmichael averred. “First up, a conspiracy theory about vaccines that has spanned the globe. It claims that the coronavirus pandemic is a cover for a plan to implant trackable microchips and that the Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is behind it. We’ve found no evidence to support these claims.”

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation told the BBC the claim was “false”.

The head of the Russian Communist party reportedly declared that so-called “globalists” supported “a covert mass chip implantation which they may in time resort to under the pretext of a mandatory vaccination against coronavirus”.

He didn’t mention Mr Gates by name but in the US, Roger Stone, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, said Bill Gates and others were using the virus for “microchipping people so we can tell ‘whether you’ve been tested’.”

The BBC Reality Checkers said a new YouGov poll of 1,640 people suggested that 28 percent of Americans believe that Bill Gates wants to use vaccines to implant microchips in people—with the figure rising to 44 percent among Republicans.

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Rumors took hold in March when Mr Gates said in an interview that eventually “we will have some digital certificates” which would be used to show who’d recovered, been tested and ultimately who received a vaccine. He made no mention of microchips.

That response led to one widely shared article, under the headline: “Bill Gates will use microchip implants to fight coronavirus”.

The article makes reference to a study, funded by The Gates Foundation, into a technology that could store someone’s vaccine records in a special ink administered at the same time as an injection.

However, the technology is not a microchip and is more like an invisible tattoo.

It has not been rolled out yet, would not allow people to be tracked and personal information would not be entered into a database, said Ana Jaklenec, a scientist involved in the study.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said: “The reference to ‘digital certificates’ relates to efforts to create an open-source digital platform with the goal of expanding access to safe, home-based testing.”

Gate reportedly did not say this about the vaccine.

The BBC Reality Checkers explained further: “The Microsoft billionaire has been the target of many different false rumors about vaccines.”

A recent post on a UK-based Twitter account reportedly said: “Bill Gates admits the vaccine will no doubt kill 700,000 people” and links to a video featuring right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.

“The claim in the tweet, which has had more than 45,000 retweets and likes, is false and misrepresents Gates’ words,” insisted the BBC Reality Checkers.

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In the video, Mr Gates is talking about the efficacy of vaccines in older people and cautions about the risk of side-effects.

He sets out a hypothetical situation about the potential harm of side-effects, saying:”If we have one in 10,000 side-effects, that’s way more… 700,000 people who will suffer from that.”

“He does not ‘admit’ 700,000 will die from a vaccine,” the BBC Reality Checker added. “Conspiracy theories about Bill Gates have reached the Italian Parliament, where an independent MP called for Bill Gates to be referred to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.”

In a recent development Gates was reported to have been alarmed at the volume of conspiracy theories around the coronavirus vaccination, but was confident that the world will largely return to normal by the end of 2021.

Delivering the keynote interview at the World Congress of Science & Factual Producers on Tuesday, Gates said, “I’m surprised at all the conspiracy theories — people who think the vaccine is not meant to save lives. That’s all wrong, but the scale of it is a bit scary in terms of, will that prevent people from being willing to take the vaccine, and why are they looking for these simple explanations?”

The stated goal of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s vaccine development and surveillance division is to advance public goods for global health through technological innovation by accelerating the development and commercialization of novel vaccines and the sustainable manufacture of existing vaccines.

(The author, who is now based in New York City, is a former editor of two dailies in Iloilo, Philippines)