Delfinado, David Rod O.

Submitted on: May 8, 2021

SAFE, FREE, MANDATORY COVID-19 VACCINES FOR ALL FILIPINOS TO END THE
PANDEMIC

It has been over a year since we all could go outside safely without wearing a mask and
worrying about a terrible virus. Now that vaccines have been developed, we should make our
demands and not wait any longer! One of the most effective weapons in the fight against the
pandemic is the COVID 19 vaccine. Thus, it should be safe, free, mandatory and available to all the
citizens of this country. As a medical student and as a citizen of the Philippines, I would like to talk
about why vaccines should be the governments’ top priority in order to end this pandemic.
First, Let’s talk about what vaccines are. According to the World Health Organization,
vaccination is an easy, healthy, and efficient way to shield people from dangerous diseases before
they get infected. It boosts the immune system by using your body's innate defenses to create
resistance to specific infections. It contains killed or weakened forms of bacteria and viruses to help
you build immunity. However, this does not cause you the disease or put you at risk of other

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complications. Currently the COVID-19, infections are decreasing in the Philippines after its spike

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last April. According to Bhatia, Dutta, & McClure (2021), it is said that our country has administered

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at least 2,129,185 doses of COVID vaccines so far and that encompasses about 1% of the whole

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population in our country. Every Filipinos must get safe vaccines as quickly as possible and free of

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charge It is a given fact that a nation which has vaccinated 100% of its population will end the virus’
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transmission thus, potentially ending the spread of the pandemic to that specific country. This enables
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every citizen to go back outside without the masks. Now that we know how important vaccines are,
we must discuss why they should be safe, free and mandatory for all the citizens of this country.
Before administering the vaccines, the government must prove that they are safe to ease the
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minds of the citizens. According to the Department of Health, COVID-19 vaccines that are granted
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with Emergency Use Authorization by the Food and Drug Administration are considered safe and
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effective based on the available evidence to date. All of the currently available COVID-19 vaccines
that are developed are proven safe however, each vaccine has different efficacy rate, precautions and
side effects. Handouts or not, the government must review and ensure that all the vaccines that come
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into the country are safe to administer to all the citizens. It is everyone’s right to know and to choose
among all the available vaccines if they are safe for themselves and their families. This is done to
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ease every citizens’ minds and encourage them to take the vaccine.
The government must also ensure that all vaccines are free of charge to every Filipino
especially for those who cannot afford to buy those expensive COVID-19 vaccines. The pandemic
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has been a hard bridge to cross for everyone. No one is safe in this global outbreak. Every person’s
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life was affected in some way. Some of us have lost jobs and family and some of us even lost our
sanity in isolation. The vaccines will be our only way of staying safe in this pandemic. It is the
government’s job to ensure that everyone, rich and poor, will have access to the vaccines which is
free of charge so no one will be left behind. We should demand from the leaders to guarantee that the
vaccine will be fairly distributed and free for every Filipinos.
Lastly, the government should mandate every citizen in our country to get vaccinated.
However, it is currently stated in the Department of Health’s website that vaccination is not
mandatory. We should demand that mandatory vaccination will have a big impact on reducing the
virus’ transmission. It is for the sake of our country. Ensuring everyone has access is the only way to
protect us all from another COVID-19 pandemic because, when people get vaccinated, they are
protecting themselves and helping to protect the whole community. It will help reduce COVID-19 in
the by slowing down the spread of disease and reduce the health, social and economic impacts of the

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 Delfinado, David Rod O. Submitted on: May 8, 2021
Section 21

pandemic. This enables us to protect the people around us especially for those very young babies
who are still not allowed to get the COVID-19 vaccine as well as the, people who are seriously ill or
have certain allergies to the content of the specific brand of vaccine.
Finally, I want to say that going outside and going back to our normal lives without the
restraints of masks is possible to happen sooner rather than later. My goal is to encourage you to
voice out in different platforms and let the leaders of this country know what we deserve. This is
only possible if we, as citizens of the Philippines, demand our rights to a safe, free and mandatory
vaccine for all Filipinos. We, as citizens of this country, remind our leaders that vaccination is one of
the most important tools to end this pandemic. Lastly, we, as citizens of this country, care for each
other and leave no one behind.

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 Delfinado, David Rod O. Submitted on: May 8, 2021
Section 21

References:

Benefits of getting a covid-19 vaccine. (n.d.). Retrieved May 06, 2021, from
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/vaccine-benefits.html

Bhatia, G., Dutta, P., & McClure, J. (2021, May 07). Philippines: The Latest CORONAVIRUS
counts, charts and maps. Retrieved May 06, 2021, from https://graphics.reuters.com/world-
coronavirus-tracker-and-maps/countries-and-territories/philippines

Domingo, K. (2020, December 09). Which covid-19 vaccine is most cost-friendly for ph
government? Retrieved May 05, 2021, from https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/12/10/20/which-
covid-19-vaccine-is-most-cost-friendly-for-ph-government

FAQs: Vaccines: Department of health website. (n.d.). Retrieved May 05, 2021, from
https://doh.gov.ph/faqs/vaccines

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Know your Vaccines (vaccine Matrix: Current Evidence): Department of health website. (n.d.).

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Retrieved May 05, 2021, from https://doh.gov.ph/vaccines/know-your-vaccines

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Vaccines and immunization: What is vaccination? (n.d.). Retrieved May 08, 2021, from
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https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/vaccines-and-immunization-what-is-vaccination?
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