By Gwen Marie De Leon
Department of Health (DOH) Undersecretary Myrna Cabotaje advised local government units (LGUs) to avoid COVID-19 vaccine brand disclosure after reports of people swarming in vaccination sites offering Pfizer-BioNTech.
In a virtual briefing on May 19, Cabotaje said that refraining from announcing the brand of the vaccine will avoid incidents of crowding in vaccination sites and exhaustion of the limited shots available.
“Our general principle is kung anong bakunang available, dapat kunin mo na,” said Cabotaje.
(Our general principle is whatever vaccine is available, you should get it.)
Despite being part of the most vulnerable age sector to the coronavirus disease, 73-year-old lola Lydia De Leon from Tabaco City, Albay has been indecisive for the past months to take any vaccination, in the fear of side effects.
It was only recently when she changed her mind and finally considered registering for vaccination. But her enthusiasm was quickly shattered by the DOH’s suggestion for vaccination sites to avoid vaccine brand disclosure.
“Mali naman ata ‘yun. Dapat hindi ganyan kasi mas lalong nakakatakot na hindi mo alam kung anong bakuna ang ginamit sayo,” De Leon said. “Nahihirapan na nga yung mga tao magtiwala, tapos ganyan pa?”
(That's wrong. It shouldn't be like that because it's even more frightening that you don't know what vaccine would be used on you, De Leon said. It's already hard for people to trust, and you’re going to tell them that?)
A ‘brand-agnostic’ system
LGUs will no longer announce in advance the name of the COVID-19 vaccines in their sites. People are to be informed on the spot.
"Dapat sasabihin lang you go [to vaccination site] and whatever vaccine that will be available, you get it," Cabotaje said. "So hindi na i-a-announce na we are now going to give Pfizer, we are now going to give Sinovac, we are now going to give AstraZeneca.”
(They should just go to the vaccination site and whatever vaccine that will be available, you get it, Cabotaje said. It will not be announced that we are now going to give Pfizer, we are now going to give Sinovac, we are now going to give AstraZeneca.)
"Come to the vaccination [site] and then whatever vaccines you will get there, then you have the jab. If they do not like the vaccines that are given during that time, then they go to the end of the line," she added.
Filipino favorites
Vaccination sites in Manila and neighboring cities have observed long lines of people wanting to get inoculated after the arrival of Pfizer vaccines in the country last May 10.
Manila Mayor Isko Moreno said that hundreds of citizens started lining up as early as 2:00 a.m. at the Prince Hotel, only one of the 18 jab sites in the city, where only 900 doses of Pfizer vaccine were supplied.
Known for having the highest efficacy rates among vaccines, Pfizer is one of the most trusted and preferred in the country.
According to a report by the Asean+3 Macroeconomic Research Office (AMRO) published on March 17, nine out of 10 Filipinos prefer vaccines manufactured in the United States and United Kingdom, including Pfizer-BioNTech, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, Novavax and Oxford/AstraZeneca.
Pfizer alone is favored by 40.5 percent of Filipinos while only 1.5 percent approve of China-made vaccines CanSino Biologics, Sinopharm and Sinovac.
DOH: all vaccines are effective
After receiving backlash and criticism on their plan to implement a ‘brand-agnostic’ system of vaccination, DOH assured in a statement released May 20 that all vaccines given the emergency use authorization in the country are effective in preventing extreme COVID-19 symptoms.
“Safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines are scrutinized based on the latest available data and scientific evidence from global clinical trials,” the DOH statement said, “All vaccines available now in the country are safe, effective, and have been found to reduce risk of severe illness and prevent death after completing the required doses.”
DOH also emphasized that LGUs, private sectors, civil society organizations and the media must join hands in increasing the vaccine confidence of the people.
“We have to be reminded that vaccine confidence should be built in the stringent processes that lead to the vaccine development, local authorization, and recommended use of these vaccines, and definitely not by the brand,” Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said.
Disregard for human rights
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) issued a statement as a response and asserted that human rights must not be compromised but should be at the heart of curbing the pandemic.
“Time and again we stress that, in ending this pandemic, respect and promotion of human rights must always be at the center of all government actions. Human rights are not to be compromised but should rather be prioritized. Ending this pandemic, after all, is in pursuit of the people’s right to health and a safe and healthy environment,” CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia said in the statement.
Lola Lydia De Leon shares the same sentiments. She believes that vaccination is the answer to end the pandemic, but she fears that such a scheme from the government takes away the voice and the agency of the people in making their own informed decision.
“Parang inaalisan lang [tayo] ng sabi eh, Sabihin nang lahat nga [ng bakuna na] ‘yan epektibo, pero dapat pa rin malaman kung ano ang bakuna kasi siyempre karapatan natin yun,” she added.
(It seems like our voice is being taken away. Let’s say that all vaccines are effective, but we still have to know what vaccine we are getting because it is our right.)
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