Let’s all face a cat

Who would you rather face off in a fight — a lion or a cat?

This question, we must admit, is not original. It came from somebody trying to illustrate the folly of rejecting the vaccine we have in our hands and waiting for another brand. For how long, we don’t know.

A doctor-friend, a pulmonologist who considers herself a frontliner, threw the same question while we’re trying to fish her opinion on the prevailing sentiment against the first Covid-19 vaccines to arrive in the country.

You see, a day after 600,000 doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac arrived last Sunday, the China-made vaccines trended on Twitter as the Philippines set into motion its long-delayed vaccination program against Covid-19.

The posts questioned Sinovac’s 50 percent efficacy rate, which pales in comparison to rival vaccines from Pfizer (94 percent) and AstraZeneca (70 percent). All three have been certified for emergency use by Filipino authorities and the China-made drug was first to arrive.

Some health workers have even protested the use of Sinovac, saying they were promised the Pfizer jab. But take note, Philippine General Hospital director Dr. Gerardo Legaspi courageously took the first crack at the China-made vaccine, as if to show his colleagues that there’s nothing to worry about. The apprehension is without basis.

Looking at figures, however, there is reason for these medical workers to be apprehensive.

Based on data released by countries that used the vaccine, CoronaVac has an efficacy rate of only 50.4 percent for mild cases, 78 percent for moderate cases and 100 percent for severe ailments. What does this mean?

Our doctor-friend explained it thus: “Should an entire population catch the virus, say the common cold and they all get vaccinated with a jab that is 50 percent efficacious, 50 percent of them will get colds and the remaining 50 percent will not get sick. Of the 50 percent who will get sick, some of them could infect others. No one is likely to die however,” she said.

Our doctor-friend based her experience at the frontlines of the pandemic since it started last year. She was involved in processing RT-PCR or swab tests and had access to confidential papers.

Curious as to how we could reconcile the high hesitancy rate of workers with the confidence of the doctors themselves, our doctor-friend wiped out whatever doubts we have in our mind.

“The best vaccine is the vaccine that’s in your hand,” she says without batting an eyelash. “Take that shot with whatever is available because it would save your life.”

We tried to digest what our doctor friend was saying. Sensing that we don’t appear convinced, the lady doctor explained things further.

“It’s just like turning the lion into a cat,” she said. “We are turning Covid-19 from a deadly disease that shut down the whole world into a common cold.”

Seeing how we are starting to nod, she continued: “Nobody is afraid of the cold. But we dread Covid. That’s what we are doing. We are trying to remove the fangs of Covid to make it less frightening.”

We are starting to get the drift. And she delivered the coup de grace: “Who would you rather face off in a fight, a lion or a cat?”

That threw us off. But recovering, we replied: “Of course the cat!”

And we both had a laugh.

“Same thing with those refusing to take the shots with the available serum we have,” she says. “There should be no fear.”

With that, we asked the crucial question to her: “By the way, have you taken the shot yourself?

Without hesitancy, she said: Of course!”

That somehow placated us. We went out of her clinic, carrying the confidence we badly need in facing the cat.

“We are turning Covid-19 from a deadly disease that shut down the whole world into a common cold.

“After 600,000 doses of Sinovac’s CoronaVac arrived last Sunday, the Chinamade vaccines trended on Twitter.