A More Robust Fight Against the Coronavirus

Volume 2, Issue No. 60

OPINION/COMMENTARY

/ News That Fears None, Views That Favor Nobody /

. . . . . A community service of The Filipino Web Channel (TheFilipinoWebChannel@gmail. com) and the Philippine Village Voice (PhilVoiceNews@gmail.com) for the information and understanding of Filipinos and the diverse communities in North America . . .

Our latest as of Tuesday, April 6, 2021 

~ Being inoculated with a vaccine against COVID-19 brings a measure of relief and comfort while we continue to grapple with the reality of the pandemic. After a worrisome year hoping and praying for deliverance, we can now look into the future with a renewed sense of confidence. Yesterday, I joined hundreds of participants booked to have their first dose of Pfizer-BioNTech, one of two medicines that boast of a 94-95% efficacy.

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FIGHTING THE PANDEMIC

COVID-19 Vaccine Puts Mind At Ease

By ROMEO P. MARQUEZ

Editor, The Filipino Web Channel

“It is health that is real wealth and not pieces of gold and silver." ― Mahatma Gandhi

TORONTO - The apprehension of the past year has somewhat been eased yesterday (Monday, April 5, 2021) soon after I got the first of two doses of the Pfizer vaccine against COVID-19.

It's comforting, to say the least, to know that I am, and hundreds of others are, encased in the safety embrace of a medicine to fend off COVID-19. While the Pfizer vaccine's 95 percent efficacy kicks in a week after the second dose, it's still reassuring to have some level of protection.

My personal attitude has changed from the fatalistic "bahala na" (English: come what may or whatever happens, happens) typical among many Filipinos to a solid belief in science. I am not predisposed to politicize it either like some of our neighbors in the United States.

In fact, that faith in modern medicine had prompted me to take the initial step to make sure I'm free of the coronavirus. A swab test in November 2020 at North York General Hospital had validated that with a "result negative" outcome.

With the vaccine in my body, I feel greatly relieved of the burden of thinking the coronavirus could hit despite a thorough adherence to health protocols and basic guidelines such as observing physical distancing, frequent washing of hands, and wearing masks.

When the World Health Organization confirmed in March 2020 that the coronavirus had expanded into a pandemic with the global case count at 126,000, the immediate future then looked bleak, even worsened by the fact that there was no known vaccine yet.

Well, the overall picture now is dramatically different. There are at least three vaccines by Pfizer, Moderna, and Oxford-AstraZeneca in various stages of development.

"Health Canada has approved Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna mRNA vaccines, which were tested in large clinical trials to make sure that they are safe and effective," according to Toronto Public Health. "In these trials, the vaccines were 94-95% effective," it says.

To attain "the most protection" from COVID-19, TPH said the vaccines require two doses. 

"It may take another two weeks after your second dose for your body to build a good immune response against COVID-19," it says while noting that "there is a small chance that you may still get COVID-19 after vaccination".

"Currently," TPH explains, "there is no information on how long the vaccine's protection will last. If vaccine protection decreases, a booster dose may be recommended in the future".

As of today (April 6, 2021), the City of Toronto and its healthcare partners have 612,284 COVID-19 vaccines. "Toronto is the first health region in Ontario to achieve this vaccine milestone," the city said in an announcement.

The procedure I had yesterday took half an hour, from check-in to check-out, through a long, twisting line inside The Hangar, the cavernous sports facility in Downsview Park, a former military base in the city's North York district.

The vaccination itself was over in a blink; it was the pre-jab question-and-answer repeated every step of the way before one reached the immunization tables manned by dozens of nurses cloaked in personal protective equipment (PPE), and further protected by a clear partition on their desks.

Once seated in front of the immunizer, the nurse repeated the same questions already asked three times earlier: "Do you consent to take the vaccine?" That was a disclaimer to protect city health authorities from legal issues that may arise later on.

Then the nurse rose from her seat, asked which arm I preferred to be injected with, and before I could even say a word, the inoculation was done. 

The Hangar opened for the first time yesterday is the sixth city-operated immunization clinic. Others are geographically distributed, namely, Metro Toronto Convention Centre, 277 Front St. W.; Toronto Congress Centre, 650 Dixon Rd.; Scarborough Town Centre, 300 Borough Dr. (in the old Sears store); Malvern Community Recreation Centre, 30 Sewells Rd.; and Mitchell Field Arena, 89 Church Ave. (west side of the complex).

Mayor John Tory toured the clinic with local Member of Parliament Ya’ara Saks (York Centre), Chair of the Toronto Board of Health Councillor Joe Cressy (Spadina-Fort York), local Councillor James Pasternak (York Centre), Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa and Fire Chief and General Manager of the Office of Emergency Management Matthew Pegg. (Copyright 2021. All Rights Reserved).