Vaccination policies need to be grounded in science

PUBLIC policy, as well as personal views, on Covid-19 vaccines should be based on science. Recently, a couple of parents sought relief from the Supreme Court against vaccinating minors and now, political lines are being drawn, as some Metro Manila mayors have issued statements challenging mandatory inoculations. In the end, we hope that legal and political views will not prevail over expert medical opinion that is based on peer-reviewed data.

Concerns over mandatory vaccinations came on the eve of the government’s rollout of Covid-19 inoculations of children between 5 and 11 years old. Some parents were troubled by a Department of Health memorandum, claiming that the government can ignore the refusal of parents to give their consent if the child says that he or she is willing to get a Covid-19 shot. The Supreme Court should rule on this soon.

In the meantime, it deserves to be noted that the Department of Education (DepEd) had earlier said it would not force learners to get a Covid-19 vaccine to attend face-toface classes. DepEd added that prior to giving an injection to learners, parents should get a medical certificate if their children have allergies or comorbidities.

The DepEd, however, encourages pupils to get a vaccine because that adds a layer of protection for both teachers and students. We hope that everyone listens.

Still, the government needs to do better in explaining to parents the safety and efficacy of the Covid-19 vaccines that have been developed so far. The authorities need to allay the concerns of those hesitating because of the emergency use authorization, which may be perceived as merely preliminary and false information from some doctors and politicians, who offer opinions based on anecdotal data or baseless conspiracy theories.

Policymakers and the health authorities cannot simply dismiss the irrational behavior among some people. The first step in finding a solution is to understand the problem, which may be related to the lingering fear of vaccines, spawned by the Dengvaxia controversy.

Nothing like Dengvaxia

To settle some minds, Covid-19 vaccines are nothing like Dengvaxia, which was hastily administered to children to protect them against Dengue. Some 800,000 children were injected with Dengvaxia during the previous Aquino 3rd administration. But a study by the vaccine manufacturer, Sanofi, revealed that about 100,000 of them should not have been given an injection of the vaccine, based on the revised recommendations of the World Health Organization.

The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) is investigating about 600 deaths it suspects may have been caused by Dengvaxia. PAO, which went out of its way to declare that it was not anti-vaccine, represents those challenging the mandatory vaccination statement.

Dengvaxia may have harmed more than those who got it. One study reported that confidence in all vaccines fell from 82 percent in 2015 to 21 percent in 2018. During the same period, the number of parents who strongly believe that vaccines are important dropped from 93 percent to 32 percent.

In other words, Dengvaxia undermined the entire inoculation regimen for Filipino children. Not even the established vaccines were spared from suspicion.

The Covid-19 vaccines may have a short history, but they do have a record. Parents and other skeptics should realize that coronavirus vaccines have been studied and reviewed perhaps more than any other vaccine in the modern era because of the pandemic.

Unlike Dengvaxia, there is a wealth of medical data available for Covid-19 that overwhelmingly show that they are safe and effective. Medical experts and researchers have studied them and continue to review them, and to date, there is no cause for alarm. Besides, millions of children worldwide have already been vaccinated against Covid-19, and if there is any reason to be concerned, the public should know by now.

Furthermore, seeing is believing. With so many adults receiving Covid-19 vaccines and showing no harmful side effects, vaccine hesitancy among Filipinos has plummeted. Concerned parents need only to look around the world for some reassurance.

They will hopefully notice that there is no parallel or similarities between Dengvaxia and Covid-19 vaccines. Then again, mandates may not be the best course of action against irrational behavior.