Vaccine scare

I hate needles, period. Back when I was a kid, I dreaded going to the doctor for my vaccine appointments. That being said, I tried my best not to have any kind of illness so I wouldn't be hospitalized. I took my vitamins, ate healthy, and got into many kinds of exercises to keep my body going. Thank God, I made it to 25 years with no major disease.

But recently, the outbreak of measles caught my attention. While covering the opening of the mass immunization of the Department of Health, I got my chance and lined up to get myself vaccinated as well. I laughed because I was with little children and I was as scared as they were.

Not at the fact that it might have the same effect as Dengvaxia, but at the pain I might incur from the needle. It was a tiny sting, then that was it. I laughed some more because of how scared I was, now that's over I can say to everyone that the government's vaccines are safe. Well, at least for this week.

The public's distrust of the vaccines from the government has led to the sprouting of measles cases here and there. We could have been a measles-free country but here we are trying to stamp it out. The government could not keep up with how fast the virus transmits compared to the speed they vaccinate the population. They are prioritizing infants and those below 20 years old but are also not discounting the general public.

Look at the cause and effects here of the Dengvaxia scare. Parents who were too scared because of the notion that measles vaccine would be the same as Dengvaxia are now running to the health center to have themselves vaccinated as well. Why do we even judge before knowing the whole story?

I guess as a people that is what we should change about ourselves. We keep on looking at things through the wrong lenses. What is good for us becomes masked in a bad image because of the wrong information that we get. We should be smart enough to know bad from good.

It's hard to predict when the outbreak will end, especially with the rising cases every day. I urge everyone to go to the nearest health center to get vaccinated. It is only one single sting, and nothing else follows. It serves as a booster to your current immunity. There is no harm in trying. It's better to be protected than not at all.

We owe it to ourselves to keep our bodies in shape. With the virus that we cannot see with our eyes, let's rather be safe than sorry. I hope in the coming days the cases will go down. It's hard to live in a world full of uncertainty, even with the air we breathe. No time to think why the viruses are like that today. Let's just do what we can to avoid it entering our bodies.