Vaccine confusion

Whether or not to get vaccinated against COVID-19 should be an easy decision to make, if one wants to be able to get back to some kind of “normal” life. But the plethora of information and misinformation that we are bombarded with – especially on social media and all those pass-on posts on viber, messenger, etc. about people who have died, who developed severe reactions and other horror stories – has sowed nothing but confusion and anxiety.

I am supposed to be included in the priority lists (senior citizens) for vaccination, which means I could be included in the free 25 million Sinovac vaccines. To be honest, I have not decided whether I will avail of it or not. What I would like is to have objective, science-based, non-politicized, facts about this vaccine. Is the efficacy really only 50 percent? Is it really the most expensive? (Although I may get it free, as a taxpayer I guess I’m still in a way paying for it.) What are its side effects? (Another China-made vaccine, Sinopharm, supposedly lists 73 side effects!) Has the international medical community seen and studied the trial data and rendered a recommendation?

Calling on the vaccine task force to please give the people solid and factual information, not threats and name-calling. We need to get people vaccinated, we need to get people to want to be vaccinated. – Valeria Bernadas, San Juan City