IT’S FULL speed ahead for the vaccination program of the national government. Thousands are lining up to be injected. There are many vaccine brands.
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“My friend, have you been vaccinated,” asked a golfer.
“Yes. And I am glad I am done with the two doses,” replied a playmate.
“Do you know the components or ingredients of the vaccine injected in you?” asked the golfer again.
“How would I know? When they said it was to fight COVID, I had myself injected right away,” the playmate responded.
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“This is my concern. There are different brands approved by the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and DOH (Department of Health).
But what was the manner of their approval? Did they check the ingredients?” reacted an accountant.
“It takes years to formulate a vaccine and lots of tests are done before it is released. For this coronavirus, pharmas around the world were quick to create vaccines. Amazing, isn’t it?” the accountant added.
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“So FDA must tell the people the recipes of these vaccines that it approved. We only know of the brands but not their ingredients ,” said the older of the two golfers.
“This is something we must be aware of. Some do not even know what’s the vaccine for. Is it to cure or to prevent or lessen or whatever,” an engineer butted in.
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“Our children and grandchildren, if ever they get vaccinated, will live with this vaccine for the next 50 to 60 years more of their lives. What is next for them?” asked the accountant.
“Sometime in the future there could be another virus hitting the globe and another type of vaccine may be needed. There will no end to the business of vaccine production,” said the accountant.
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“Aside from that, our economy will be at the mercy of frequent community quarantines. Bad for the private sector. The government workers are luckier, they will continue to receive wages whatever the quarantine situation is,” said the accountant.
“Yes, agree”, said the golfer.
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“IDOH and FDA must review these vaccines. While China is donating a sizeable quantity of vaccines, there is no guarantee that succeeding deliveries will be of the same good formula as the donated ones. No offense to that country but this is also true with the other pharmas. Give the Filipinos the ingredients of each vaccine and the people will trust the pharma products,” said the accountant.
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This column greets Francis Chu, Natalie Lim, Mary Ann Matiling, Maui dela Cruz, Marlon Navarro, Gerry Camina, Red Sarabia, Panoy Gonzales, Ariston Minez Jr., Frank Carbon, Kim Martin Jimenez, SB Pyt Trimanez and Matin Arandez./PN
