Tag Archives: vaccines

Are we back to the Middle Ages?

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venetian traditional masks for sale in stall
Plague doctor mask. Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

My Facebook newsfeed has become an obituary page of sorts, with almost everybody posting that they have lost friends and family due to COVID-19. People are so desperate now that they’re willing to ingest veterinary anti-parasitic drugs to cure themselves or loved ones of COVID. The girls’ dad ordered from somewhere Lianhua Qingwen, a Chinese herbal medicine, which he claims to beat COVID, and had sent them to my maids (Because he perfectly knows I refuse to talk to him). I told the maids to tell him that 1) I am not paying for its delivery (because he told the maids I should pay for the delivery, scumbag) and 2) we are not taking that because it has not been approved by the FDA for COVID. It’s just not even an antiviral drug. The DOH also said it cannot be obtained without prescription, therefore, he got it from the black market. Chinese drugs from the black market…Dodgy is an understatement. I’d rather take Tamiflu, which is like PHP 107 per capsule, even if it is not enough to help cure COVID-19, but at least it can bring down the symptoms of influenza A and B that can occur with COVID.

Anyway, a fellow journo also related the story of his friend who tested positive for COVID and was symptomatic. Instead of going home and risk infecting his family or seeking medical help because hospitals now are bursting at the seams, he chose to isolate himself in his SUV and parked it outside his office in Camp Crame. He was found, with water and food provisions, dead inside his car that had its engine still running. When this journo last spoke to his friend over the phone, he said he could hear his friend was having a labored breathing. That’s how bad the situation is now. People are choosing to isolate inside their cars because we no longer have anywhere to go. We are effing trapped and this government just let us die.

Meanwhile…

Duterte is missing. He hasn’t appeared since his lewd birthday video and sham of a birthday picture were posted a few weeks ago. Cabinet officials have been cancelling press briefings. Duterte’s regular rant session has been cancelled several times in the past few days.

In other news: An Australian Royal Flying Doctor Service Hawker 800XP with call sign VH-RIO, a medivac jet, took off Diosdado Macapagal airport at 1051 Saturday, April 3, and landed three hours later at 1409 on Selatar Airport, Singapore.

a message sent to me by somebody

Members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG) have tested positive for COVID–and these guys were supposed to have been vaccinated illegally last year with Sinovac even before FDA approved it. FDA hasn’t even approved it for healthcare workers. And if Duterte is dying of COVID now, then Sinovac shouldn’t even be used on anyone. And now FDA is endangering our senior citizens by approving today Sinovac for use on people 60 years old and above…because we have run out of Astra Zeneca and this government is blocking the procurement of other vaccines.

“After considering the recommendation of the experts and the current situation of high COVID-19 transmission and limited available vaccines, the FDA is allowing the use of Sinovac on senior citizens,” FDA Director General Eric Domingo said in a text message to ABS-CBN News.

I’ve been told by another journo that Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año will no longer be able to get back to work as his COVID infection has become worse. An official of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (central bank) was in bad shape for weeks when he was at the Philippine General Hospital and last week he posted on Facebook (we are FB friends even before government service) that he is now recovering. They are the few privileged ones who have higher chances of survival because they can easily get hospital beds. The rest of us would have to take care of ourselves and we will play the Darwinian game of survival of the fittest.

Which reminds me, I should buy the PPEs and pulse oximeter now online before they run out.

J should get out of the country now before we are overrun by Covid. We are the worst in Asia Pacific right now. We even overtook Indonesia and China in terms of number of cases and deaths. Octa research projects that we will have 1 million cases by end of this month. Hospitals cannot take it anymore and HCWs are thinning out.

On the other side of the world, people are picking up their lives and are already moving on to tackle other issues like #StopAsianHate.

Stop Asian Hate rally: Man asks protester for her Instagram without realising it’s Rihanna

Power tripping

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A doctor cycling last Sunday was arrested by a stupid policeman for not wearing a face shield while riding. Of course the doctor resisted arrest since the DOH and IATF already issued memos that bike/motorcycle riders are exempted from wearing a face shield because this is more of a hazard than a protection.

Incidents like this add to my roiling anger deep inside. I called the attention of my colleagues in local media outfits like CNN Philippines, Philippine Star, etc. so that they would be able to cover this. The Philippine National Police is the center of all things corrupt and stupid since 2016. I just can’t stand this. I no longer know how to contain this anger.

Meanwhile, I’m trying my best to help in the donation drive for Silungang Molave, which has been turned into an isolation facility in UP Diliman. I spoke yesterday with Ms. Perlynn and asked for e-money and bank accounts where we can deposit our donations. She also said their priority now is to secure N95 masks and latex gloves.

Paymaya 09173009064 Aleli B Bagawan and GCash 09173009064 Ma. Fatima B. Sapno.

A cousin has just sent money from abroad and I sent half to UP and the rest will be used to buy masks and face shields for delivery guys and to hospitals that may need mattresses or PPEs.

So last night I slept again very late (2 am-ish?) I was booking my vaccine schedule and what I got was 11 April. My neighbors, one of whom is a cancer patient and her mom has several co-morbidities, were able to have theirs today and they were quick. Unfortunately, the venue I chose is one of the busiest and my neighbor said it took her classmate 5 hrs of waiting even if you booked your slot and got assigned to a specific time. So I may have to rebook this again because the 11th is my daughters’ birthday and I can’t be away for 5 hrs.

The email I received after booking my vaccination schedule last night.

I booked via EZConsult, Zuellig Pharma’s telemedicine platform that the Quezon City government is using. It’s easy to use and hopefully the backlogs in the vaccination centers would be ironed out soon. I also need to go to a pulmonologist by Friday so that my medical records can be pulled out of the polyclinic near my house where my recent records are. I need to present a medical certificate that I have chronic respiratory disease i.e. asthma to show at the vaccination center. Good thing also I scanned all my past Rx including Symbicort, which is used for asthma and COPD. I belong to A3 (18-59 years old with co-morbodities) that’s why I should be qualified to be included in this batch. I’m not really eager to get the China vax but you have to get what you can. I’m a single parent and my children have no one else but me.

I’m also preparing for the event that there might be COVID home care at some point so I will have to buy 1) pulse oximeter, 2) disposable and washable PPEs, 3) look for vendors of oxygen tanks, 4) stock up on flu and asthma medicines. The first two items can be ordered via Lazada. 3 and 4 can be obtained from Mercury. Being prepared can’t hurt because Philippines’ healthcare system is collapsing.

Doctors’ group laments ‘doomsday’ situation in Metro Manila hospitals

CNN Philippines file photo

Vaccine “diplomacy”

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So much for vaccine diplomacy. We should have had the 10 million Pfizer vaccines by now if DOH Sec Duque did not “forget” to sign the papers for their procurement. Some people in my industry say that the “dropping of the ball” happened to favor the China vaccines because no one in the country wanted to be vaccinated with it, based on polls. Now China dangles the Sinopharm and Sinovac vaccines as part of their vaccine diplomacy in exchange for this:

Over 200 Chinese ships spread out in West Philippine Sea reefs

Chinese vessels, believed to be crewed by Chinese maritime militia personnel, are seen at Whitsun Reef within the Philippine exclusive economic zone on Saturday [Philippine Coast Guard via Reuters]

The Philippine FDA hasn’t even approved the use of the Chinese vaccines for healthcare workers nor senior citizens nor those with co-morbidities and yet we have subjected our healthcare workers to these vaccines when there should have been better alternatives.

Given the blatant disregard for Philippine sovereignty and the evil Philippine president has already sold the country to China, Defense chief Delfin Lorenzana is breaking away from the stance of the Duterte administration and has given hostile statements against China for the second time. Usually whenever Lorenzana issues statements like these in the past, he comes back to recant his statement or divert the issue after probably being scolded from above. This time he can’t take it anymore and continues to be on the offensive.

Philippines’ defence chief says China intends to occupy more South China Sea areas

He is probably emboldened now that the US is visibly giving support now.

US, Philippines discuss Chinese ‘swarming’ in South China Sea

Meanwhile, I’ve learned from a veteran journo in my FB network, Quezon City has started the vaccination for senior citizens and residents with co-morbidities. I signed up via the Zuellig platform, which handles the database for QC. I learned that asthma is counted as one of the comorbidity, making me and my daughters high-risk residents. I just tried but I’m not counting on it since there are more vulnerable citizens in my area.

I hope my hometown is able to procure as well so that my mom, a senior citizen, and my brother (who has hypertension) can be vaccinated soon.

At the home front, I finished the curtains for the girls’ room and are now hanging there:

I’m quite proud of my handiwork. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

I’m now finishing mine so that I can hang it in my room about three days from now. Sushi always accompanies me while I sew. She always sleeps at my feet or at my chair’s headrest.

My cats could not leave me alone. My girls are now protesting, “Mommy, why is that they always stay with you but not with us?!”

MY babies. Photo by CallMeCreation.com

Hmmm, I should restain the floorboards with varnish. They get so much wear because of my rolling chair.