No time to waste

We cannot heave a sigh of relief just yet. Even with vaccinations going on and Covid-19 treatments available, the invisible war rages on.

Roughly 1.3 percent of the world’s population have been infected by the Covid-19 virus as of late January 2021, reported Nikkei Asia based on global trackers reported online.

Over a year since the novel coronavirus strain was detected in Wuhan, China, worldwide cases “have reached 113,372,398, according to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. The worldwide death toll has hit 2,515,869.”

Much as we would want life to get back to the way it used to be, we must learn to hold on longer as humanity continues to battle the highly infectious disease. This, sad as it may seem, is our normal — and will be so until we have conquered the most adverse effects of Covid-19.

There are about 12 types of mutations of the dreaded coronavirus, starting with the first one found in Wuhan. The new strains from the United Kingdom and South Africa had been detected on our shores. Two newer ones are reportedly being studied by our own experts.

It is important to act fast because the more people continue to get infected, the more Covid-19 mutates.

In the article, Nikkei Asia explains, “Viruses cannot reproduce on their own, so they enter human cells to replicate themselves and multiply. The new coronavirus has a type of genetic information called RNA (ribonucleic acid), and mutations occur when there are mistakes in copying this genetic material. On average, the coronavirus mutates once every 15 days. Many mutated strains simply die out, but some become versions of the virus that can then infect people.”

The virus is fighting back, mutating to survive, even as we struggle to protect ourselves from it with a slew of vaccines and immune boosters.

Slow as the Philippines had been in reacting to Covid-19 back when it was just beginning to spread, we now have a sense of urgency in acting against a further spread of infections.

President Rodrigo Duterte had urged concerned agencies to move faster toward a full rollout of the country’s immunization program, a law he signed just before the first shipment of donated vaccines from China arrived.

On Monday, we saw the first jabs being administered on public officials, police and health workers — a show of force to convince a populace hesitant about either getting themselves vaccinated unless it is a brand of their choice, or getting vaccinated at all.

Soon, over 500,000 doses from the more popular AstraZeneca will arrive, and about two million from Moderna come May or June. It will still be a far cry from the 148 million doses the Philippine government had pegged for its inoculation plan to achieve herd immunity.

It is, however, the start many had been waiting for, as we had been recording troubling numbers again — higher cases of Covid-19 than other Southeast Asian countries, and a much-delayed vaccination rollout.

The UK was the first to begin vaccinating its citizens in early December, and other countries around the world had followed suit.

Obviously, poorer countries had not been able to start quickly, leading the wealthier ones to practice what is called “vaccine diplomacy” — such as what China’s donation of 600,000 doses of Sinovac had been.

After all, ensuring that vast chunks of the world are vaccinated as swiftly as humanly possible would mean easier mobility, a resurgence of economic activity and a return to the kind of “normal” we would want to have again.

“Ensuring that vast chunks of the world are vaccinated as swiftly as humanly possible would mean easier mobility, a resurgence of economic activity and a return to the kind of “normal” we would want to have again.

“It is important to act fast because the more people continue to get infected, the more Covid-19 mutates.