Philippine Daily Inquirer/OPINION/by Ma. Ceres P. Doyo
I do not
like to use the words guinea pigs because they are off putting, so how about
test bunnies? These words are used in the context of lab experiments. I am
using test bunnies to refer to t Ihe first Filipino vaccinees. Not that they are being primed to be test bunnies. But
by being first, they will show one and all the immediate and short-term side
effects, if there be some at all, of the anti-COVID-19 vaccines. The long-term effect that we expect would be
immunity from the corona virus (and its variants too, we hope) that causes
COVID-19. Nothing adverse, we pray.
Vaccinee
refers to the one injected with the vaccine and vaccinator to the one who
administers the vaccine. The latter was called vacunador in our Hispanic past according to historian Ambeth Ocampo,
hence the family name that some Filipinos still bear. We still use the word bakuna, and also for those unsightly bakuna sleeves that are in vogue.
When the Big
Pharmas abroad were still in the thick of discovering a wonder vaccine that
would end the pandemic and lockdowns worldwide, Filipino politicians and bigwigs
were announcing with braggadocio their eagerness to undergo the tusok-tusok. Why, some in government
even admitted to have had their shots on the sly, using contraband vaccines
from undisclosed sources on the pretext that it was their way to fiercely protect
their Commander-in-Chief, President Duterte. With their shadowy feat, they
might have unwittingly put their own lives at risk and also the life of their
boss who exhibits different shades of unhealthy grey.
First the
President said he would be the first to get the vaccine to show one and all
that there is nothing to worry about as regards its safety and effectivity. He
must have been referring to the China-made vaccine that many are hesitant about
as mini-surveys have shown but which, if one read his lips, were his preferred
vaccine for the masses.
Then he and
other presentado eager beavers
changed their tune. They appeared to be conceding to the idea that the most
vulnerable or at high risk be the first the get the vaccine. Sila muna. These would be the
health-care front-liners, senior citizens, persons with disabilities and the underprivileged.
Now, from
the chorus line: Why us? Why not them first? We will wait and see. Why make the
vulnerable your test bunnies? These are some common reactions—mine, too—to the
so-called priority list of vaccinees. The biblical adage that “the last will be
first and the first will be last” does not apply in this iffy situation.
Social media
posts about the vaccine’s possible untoward effects add to the hesitancy. Comic
relief there is--memes, cartoons and video flicks that show a variety of side-splitting
effects. There is Queen Elizabeth’s likeness gyrating Bollywood-style to a
heady Indian tune, a bunch of skimpily clad ckicks who have transmogrified into
candidates for Mr. Universe, not quite like Caitlyn Jenner but more like Arnold
Schwarzenegger in drag. From my cinematic mind: a Chinese in Wuhan suddenly
speaking in chavacano or sing-song Hiligaynon.
Filipinos
turn their agam-agam and their
compatriots’ stupidities, proclivities and hesitations into something funny. Pulse Asia survey results released January 7
showed that nearly half of Filipinos would not want to have themselves
vaccinated even if the vaccine would be free of charge.
Vice
President Leni Robredo stressed last Sunday that Pres. Duterte shown in public
getting the first shot of the vaccine would boost Filipinos’ confidence in the
vaccine. The pambansang photobomber Sen.
Bong Go had challenged the VP to have her vaccine jab in public. She said yes
to the challenge. Et tu, Bong Go?
Well, palace
spox Harry Roque said that the President had agreed to be vaccinated “as soon
as it is available” but it will be done in private. Is the President one of
those men who turn deathly pale when they see women bearing syringes?
There is a
lot down the road that we do not know. Not only about the vaccine itself but
about the whole operation in bringing the vaccine to millions of qualified and
willing Filipinos. Daunting is an
understatement. #
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