When you are pro-life, but also pro-choice

This is not about the abortion bill that has gotten conservatives’ shackles up in America.

This is about the impending arrival of vaccines against Covid-19, and how Filipinos are currently debating on whether to get the jab or not.

To get vaccinated means to give yourself a better chance to survive an infection. It should also help lessen the chances of virus transmission among the populace.

But in the case of Covid-19 vaccines, are they safe?

This is the crux of the so-called vaccine hesitancy that currently afflicts many Filipinos.

Some say it has to do with distrust built up from a series of events that had led to this recoil from any vaccination plan — even when the times call for its immediate rollout.

Many remember the deaths from the Dengvaxia immunization of students, compounded by the global measles outbreak in 2018 that caused people to think vaccines don’t work.

The real reason, the World Health Organization said, was “undervaccination.”

If perceptions don’t change, then we might be at risk of the same situation, defeating the purpose of getting herd immunity. This goal would actually help us gain more freedom from the current health restrictions that are affecting economic activities, among other aspects of our daily lives.

For weeks, before news came that the first shipment of a vaccine is arriving, people were considering which brand they felt most confident in, and whether they wanted to be vaccinated at all.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), soon after talks of a possible shift to modified general community quarantine heated up, on Monday granted China-based drugmaker Sinovac’s Covid-19 vaccine an emergency use authorization (EUA).

Sinovac is the third Covid-19 vaccine to have secured an EUA from FDA, following Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca.

The half a million doses coming in were notably donated by the Chinese government.

Arrival of purchased vaccines is apparently getting delayed from the issue of indemnification — or security against legal liability in case more harm is caused by the vaccine than not. This has added more fear than assurance.

These vaccines were developed by different pharmaceutical companies from different countries.

In developing these vaccines, they underwent clinical trials in various stages until the products were deemed suitable for emergency use by various governments around the world.

Experts say there is nothing to be afraid of when it comes to being vaccinated. These are credible companies with track records and the latest science and technology to back their work in the fight against Covid-19.

Also, WHO notes, “Today, vaccines have an excellent safety record and most ‘vaccine scares’ have been shown to be false alarms.”

The distrust, it would seem, stems from misinformation. There are more doubts about safety concerns than confidence in vaccine benefits floating in the air.

In a television show, for example, Dr. Lulu Bravo, executive director of the Philippine Foundation for Vaccination, clarified some points about Sinovac’s efficacy rate. Popular opinion pegs it at only 50 percent compared to the other brands’ higher rates.

However, the real score is that during tests, it “ranged from 65.3 percent to 91.2 percent” among non-health care workers while “its efficacy rate only stood at 50.4 percent among health care workers.”

As a matter of strategy, therefore, the Sinovac vaccines arriving soon are not meant for the medical frontliners as they have low efficacy on them, but for others who are also in the priority lists.

Much still has to be disseminated among the people. Lack of or wrong information and also some condescension among some officials are causing resistance to the vaccines.

For sure, everyone is pro-health and pro-”life back to normal.” It will help pave the way to receptiveness if our leaders can assure the public that they have the freedom to choose.

“Much still has to be disseminated among the people. Lack of or wrong information and also some condescension among some officials are causing resistance to the vaccines.

“If perceptions don’t change, then we might be at risk of the same situation, defeating the purpose of getting herd immunity.