Get the world vaccinated

“Omicron variant threat real but not cause for panic.” This is the statement from the DOH as it assures the public regarding this new variant. The threat is real, make no mistake about it, but there is no need to panic. I seem to remember President Duterte uttering those very same words in the early days of COVID, stating it was like the flu and it will just disappear. Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said she believed the Omicron variant had not reached the Philippines since there have been no reports of a spike or clustering of cases. They are currently monitoring travelers from South Africa, Egypt, and Burkina Faso and are checking their genome sequencing for Omicron.

For several days, the country has seen less than a thousand positive cases per day. A good sign we are on the right track to beating COVID. With the Christmas season already upon us, many already feel things are back to normal. I am thankful people are still wearing face masks and sanitizing whenever they can as many have ditched face shields. I am glad we do not have crazy anti-maskers as we see in the US.

According to the DOH website, more than 91 million doses have been given, more than 37 million have been completely vaccinated, and more than 52 million received the first dose. These are good numbers, and we hope to see even better numbers as the vaccination program of the government keeps up the pace. As for those who still refuse to get vaccinated for some ridiculous reason or another, I suppose the government will have to come up with a way to entice them, which is another word for bribing.

Scientists are stressing the importance of getting the vaccines to poor countries. Africa is once again in the spotlight. If a variant has emerged from the continent, who knows what else might emerge as vaccinations rates continue to be poor. There is no reason for rich countries to hoard vaccines if most of their population has received completed doses. Vaccines do expire so hoarding does nothing but waste them. I believe it is criminal to hoard vaccines if others can benefit from them. Until a significant number of people all over the world have been vaccinated, the coronavirus will still have plenty of fertile ground on which it creates more variants than we have Greek letters.