I HAVE a suki at the public market’s chicken section here in Sto. Tomas City who vowed that “magkamatayan na hindi ako magpapabakuna!”
That’s her unyielding personal stand and I should say, we should respect that.
To each his/her own 'ika nga.
But mostly, people around her, are over and done with their own vaccinations of varying brands from Sinovac, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, etc.
Thanks to Sto. Tomas City’s smooth vaccination process grinding daily.
“At ano naman ang dahilan mo 'Te bakit ayaw mo magpabakuna eh, halos lahat naman na dito (sa palengke) ay nagpabakuna na?” I asked. “At libre naman.”
“E kasi, yung kapit bahay namin ano ang nangyari? Nagpabakuna, nanghina, ay ayaw ko mang sabihin ay pumanaw. Ayoko ko pang mamatay kaya ayoko magpabakuna,” she explained. “Ano man ang mangyari.”
I should say, my suki only read the headline on what befell her neighbor.
Based on studies “people with complete vaccines against Covid-19 and contracted the disease didn’t die, didn’t develop severe symptoms, and didn’t need to be hospitalized.”
Studies further revealed unvaccinated individuals’ chance of dying from coronavirus is high.
“For unvaccinated people in their 80s, around 32% who contract COVID will die from it. For people in their 70s, it’s around 14%. (For unvaccinated people in their 60s, it drops to around 3%. And for under-50s, it’s less than 1%.)
And here’s good news: Both Pfizer and AstraZeneca are very effective at preventing severe disease and death from COVID-19, even from the more virulent Delta strain.
Malamang hindi nag-imbistiga itong si Ateng suki sa manok kung ano talaga ang dahilan ng pagkamatay ng kanyang kapit-bahay.
So, gaano po ka-epektibo ang vaccines?
According to preliminary data from the United Kingdom, after your first dose of either Pfizer or AstraZeneca, you’re 33% less likely than an unvaccinated person to contract the Delta variant.
Two weeks after your second dose, this rises to 60% for AstraZeneca and 88% for Pfizer. This data is for any form of COVID-19, from mild to severe the research said.
Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are 96% and 92% effective (respectively) in preventing Delta variant hospitalizations.
But why do some people still get COVID after being vaccinated?
The explanation for this is simple. Vaccines aren’t magic barriers. They don’t kill the virus or pathogen they target.
Rather, vaccines stimulate a person’s immune system to create antibodies. These antibodies are specific against the virus or pathogen for the vaccine and allow the body to fight infection before it takes hold and causes severe disease.
But whatever is the vaccine we got, it is good to think that it would be better if we die from Covid-19 vaccinated rather than dying full of regrets for not getting the jab.