EDITORIAL - Change for the better

As if the COVID-19 scourge weren’t enough, the year drew to a close with millions of people struggling to recover from the devastation unleashed by Super Typhoon Odette across large areas of the Visayas and Mindanao.

Battling COVID was the principal preoccupation throughout the year. Hopes for winning the battle were buoyed by the arrival in late February – delayed as it was by someone “dropping the ball” on the Pfizer / BioNTech jab – of vaccines made in China.

Victory against the invisible enemy, alas, remained elusive. Even as vaccination slowly got underway in March, the Alpha and Beta variants began spreading, fueling a surge that saw critical cases and deaths soaring. Hospitals overflowed with patients, with several dying while waiting for admission to intensive care.

The surge, which led to a prolonged lockdown, had not yet fully abated when the deadly Delta variant entered the country. By August, a Delta-driven full-blown surge prompted another tightening of restrictions.

A continuing arrival of more vaccines helped in improving the situation, although the good news was dampened by the scandal over the procurement of COVID emergency supplies from Pharmally Pharmaceuticals by the Procurement Service of the Department of Budget and Management.

Hidilyn Diaz at least brought cheer, as the nation erupted in jubilation over her Olympic gold medal in weightlifting – the country’s first ever in the Games. Ana Patricia Non also showed the best of the Filipino when she initiated the community pantry for the neediest in the middle of a crippling pandemic.

Increasing vaccination combined with some level of natural immunity provided by COVID infection led to a significant drop in cases nationwide by yearend. This gain, however, is threatened by the arrival of the Omicron variant as well as complacency in sustaining minimum safety protocols during the holidays.

The new year is seen as an opportunity to do things better. A new year also bodes change. Politics competed with COVID for the nation’s attention in 2021. This May, the nation gets to pick a new set of leaders, who must steer the country through the treacherous waters of the worst health and economic crisis in a century. The wrong choices will bury the country deeper in disaster. An informed choice will spell recovery, allowing the coming years to be truly happy, healthy and prosperous.

Have a better, joyful New Year, everyone!