I WOULD have been vaccinated already with my first dose last Wednesday, May 26, coz my seester Almalyn was able to pull her usual tricks again when she got to talk with some people over at the Lucena city health office and got my name listed for schedule to be vaccinated on that appointed day. But it did not happen. On Tuesday night, out of the blue somebody from the barangay center of Bgy. 10 called me saying I am scheduled to be vaccinated tomorrow. I was taken aback coz I was not expecting to be vaxed anytime soon when the good Sis had told me a week before that she was finding ways to have me inoculated with a vaccine against Covid-19.
She just got hers from Astrazeneca and her second jab is scheduled next month on June 27. She said she does not know what vaccine will be available for me on my appointed day which would have been last Wednesday but it did not happen. We have a staff meeting with our Opinyon boss, Ray Junia, scheduled for Wednesday. When the caller from the barangay hall asked me to confirm if I am coming I was put on the spot, in a quandary: to vax or not to vax for tomorrow.
But I decided eventually not to, for any vague reason to myself which I will disclose later after I have my vax, and opted to push thru instead with the staff meeting which included Sol Luzano, Ace Virgil Fernandez and Anadel Gob – with me of course. It would be held at the main office at No. 10 Pacita Avenue, Pacita Complex in San Pedro City, Laguna. The staff meeting went hunky dory with the Opinyon boss casually presiding over the very informal meeting with other in-house solid characters at the office which included nonpareil Opinyon Entertainment Editor Boy Villasanta and Opinyon TV host Cathy Go, she with her infectious laugh as she gabs on merrily away. We launched into our free-wheeling meeting over lunch with lots of personal anecdote and memorabilia from the boss himself during his tense and stressful PR specialist days, and, of course, laughter here and there which went on till almost 2PMbefore we called it quits and off we went back riding into Sol’s car while the hot sun blazed its full fury outside all the way to our Lucena city base.
Anyways, I have digressed, so back to my vax topic. I would have been vaxed already with any available vaccine last May 26 since I am well qualified already having reached my sextyhood since September of last year, but it did not happen coz of our staff meeting with the Opinyon chief. I would have had already my first layer of protection from the dreaded new corona virus and when the second jab comes around for me, I would have been assured of my relative immunity and safety afforded by the Covid-19 vaccine. But as of now, being not yet jabbed with any of the available vax, of course, I still feel ‘naked’ and vulnerable from the accidental infection of the Covid-19 deadly affection. But even with 2 doses of the vax, there is no 100% assurance really from the mortal infection, unless the level of herd immunity in the entire country is reached, or so they say, meaning 70% of the total population has been vaccinated.
With the super slow vaccination rollout being done by the government, both national and local, until when is that desired target level of herd immunity going to happen for us all in this country that as of last count has already logged over 1,200,430 cases of Covid-19 infection as of May 29 and deaths of over – never mind. We have enough deaths already even without the scourge of the Covid plague – from the deadly drug war waged, grim and determined, since day one of the Duterte administration to the daily deaths from poverty, sickness and other unfortunate accidents and ill luck that befall the ordinary hapless Juans of this country.
Tags: #commentary, #columns, #TumbasManipis, #Covid19, #Pandemic, #vax, #vaccination, #Lucena, #opinyon