Hex on vax

It is as if Macbeth’s Fates had cast an evil curse on vaccines throughout the Philippines. By the middle of 2020 when it became apparent that our blueprint for tackling the Covid-19 pandemic was focused on imposing Draconian measures and suing for time until a vaccine arrived, what hope we had left from the traumatic imposition of inequitable measures was reduced to establishing herd immunity.

Herd immunity, however, is a function of a substantial percentage immunized through a nationwide vaccination program. Beyond rollout tactics that require intelligent strategies where a minimum of 70 percent is vaccinated.

Many still stupidly contend that lockdowns, the wearing of masks and face shields, handwashing, and social distancing comprise the totality of our strategy. Others simplistically think awaiting vaccines constitutes a plan.

Strategy necessitates specific and measurable objectives, both in the long and short term. It likewise demands a plethora of options that compete based on established criteria. Strategy likewise necessitates measuring failures and successes, thus determining performance criteria for every option. And not to be forgotten, strategy at the very onset requires baselines, and an honest quantifiable SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis. The methodology is scientific, intelligent, and deliberate, necessary even before we choose who will carry out the strategy.

Unfortunately, we prioritized the last protocol. The failure was immediate and fatal. It eventually led to being overwhelmed with tactics ad nauseam from employing an unquestioning chain of command to bear on a complex multidimensional challenge. The bottom-line is that we had simply let loose leashes as we prayed for a vaccine.

Brazen entitlement and double standards in the imposition of harsh measures, the gradual distancing of strategies from science-led initiatives to an increasingly iron-fisted imposition of police powers, the deployment of armed armored vehicles, combat fatigues and actual killings, plus the grandstanding of poorly educated charlatans from both sides of the political aisle exponentially worsened what little trust the government enjoyed from its previous public vaccination programs.

One retired general insists vaccine procurement terms must remain secret due to confidentiality clauses. And then we learn some had been smuggled. Another says the vaccines will soon be arriving. And then we learn no purchase contracts have been signed.

These dysfunctionalities bear quantifiable consequences. The ASEAN Studies Centre in Singapore showed that a 53.7 percent majority disapprove of the governments responses to Covid-19 and that 72.2 percent believe the state must “encourage more scientists and medical doctors to contribute to public policy discussions.” Unfortunately, the loudest voices heard over the cacophony belong to either retired generals, politicians, candidates positioning for 2022, the opposition, unqualified spokesmen and columnists. Allow us to further quantify the curse on the immunization program. Beyond the 53.7 percent disapproval, on the immunization program, only 32 percent are willing to get inoculated, 47 percent are not inclined to get any vaccine, while 21 percent are ambivalent. None of these metrics are anywhere near the requisite 70 percent required for herd immunity.

Safety, cost, and necessity are the three leading concerns for the hesitancy. A fourth trumps all three — the 53.7 percent lost public trust and confidence.

“Safety, cost, and necessity are the three leading concerns for the hesitancy. A fourth trumps all three — the 53.7 percent lost public trust and confidence.

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Unfortunately, we prioritized the last protocol. The failure was immediate and fatal.