‘CHOOSING TO PASS UP A VACCINATION IS LIKE PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE WITH YOUR LIFE. I THINK THE PROBLEM IS MANY OF US HAVE BEEN LULLED INTO A FALSE SENSE OF CALM BECAUSE THE WORST SURGE OF MARCH-APRIL (WHICH ALMOST TOOK MY LIFE) IS BEHIND US.’
LAST Saturday, I marked my 89th day since my discharge from St. Luke’s BGC, where I was confined for 13 days as a critical COVID-19 patient. Three of those days I spent in the emergency room, ensconced in a cubicle surrounded by National Bookstore book-cover grade plastic, conscious of the hustle and bustle around me, including all the bells and beeps of machines and the ever so often fuss created in the cubicles across from mine which houses the intubated patients. I was only moved up to a private room at 7 p.m. on April 2 and there I stayed for another 10 days. While confined, I got the run of COVID-19 medicines from numerous doses of Remdescivir to two bags of Tociluzimab.
I also got a bag of convalescent plasma from someone whose identity I will never know.
I have documented and detailed that journey here and on my Facebook profile numerous times, but one message that has impressed itself on me is something I will never tire of repeating: Get jabbed.
If you or I know that we will get out of the hospital walking on our own two feet even after an intense bout with COVID, then I will understand your hesitancy to get a vaccine that is, yes, in the experimental stage.
But I may have been singularly lucky that one time. And you and I know how COVID can be the most emotionally depressing and draining disease anyone can get – or anyone can watch their loved ones get.
You have to battle the disease alone, unable to hold the hands of your loved ones, stare into their eyes and share any last moment words of thanks or even regret. They couldn’t cheer you on every day, bringing your favorite dishes and desserts. And tell you you’re looking fine and things are looking up. Even if sometimes they lie just to make you feel better.
In COVId? If you die, you die alone.
Having gone through the horrors of staring that possibility in the face I waited for 90 days to get jabbed. As a recipient of convalescent plasma I needed to allow that period of time to pass so that the antibodies that were imported onto my system would have waned, allowing a vaccine to do its job of provoking my own immune system into making my own antibodies. It was a long wait, during which I kept up my routine of high intensity interval training around BGC while under regular e-consult with my St. Luke’s pulmonary specialist.
I was also keeping a close eye on developments regarding the Delta and the Delta+ variants, which health authorities suspect may be able to evade our immune systems, negating the effect of vaccines. By sheer coincidence the arrival of Moderna vaccines from the US CPI coincided with the end of my waiting period. And so, while two antibody tests seemed to indicate that I still had a considerable number of them in my system, I lined up to get jabbed at the Philippine Red Cross Logistics center in Mandaluyong, behind their EDSA-Boni headquarters.
I’m one step closer to being able to feel a little more protected against COVID.
But millions remain unprotected. Deputy IATF chief and testing czar Vince Dizon has made it clear that the problem is supply. Thankfully, despite a new surge of cases in Russia we received thousands of Sputnik doses two days ago. We also received a donation from Japan of millions of Pfizer doses, and Astra Zeneca doses ordered by the private sector are arriving next week. But we need much more because we have not even fully vaccinated five percent of our total population, and even the most optimistic projections seem to show that it will only be in Metro Manila where the level of protection will be sufficient for 40-60% of the population by October. Again, that’s only for Metro Manila, where you can find the best medical facilities in the country.
What happens then to those outside of Metro Manila who, without the vaccines, will fall ill to COVID?
Get jabbed. I understand the hesitancy of many people about the experimental vaccines but COVID is real and it’s mean. If you have access to vaccines, get jabbed. Choosing to pass up a vaccination is like playing Russian roulette with your life. I think the problem is many of us have been lulled into a false sense of calm because the worst surge of March-April (which almost took my life) is behind us. But as the Delta variant shows, the virus is everyday trying to outsmart us; every day.
Don’t gamble with your life, please, and the lives of your loved ones. Get jabbed as soon as you can.
Personal: Happy birthday Kagawad Franz Julius Sanchez of Barangay San Joaquin, Pasig City; Cj Mercado; Sarah Trinidad; Catamin Christiangarcia; Nancy Magdaraog; Gideon Dario of Pasay City
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