New act of heroism: Get vaccinated

Medical experts have been relentlessly doing their job to win the fight against COVID-19, and it is only responsible for the rest of us to help them by being fully vaccinated.

A recent study done by University of California San Diego Medical Center pulmonologist and ICU doctor Dr. Tim Morris showed the difference in the lungs of vaccinated and unvaccinated patients with COVID-19. The latter tended to have lungs which are more “markedly affected and so damaged, that [they] would not be able to oxygenate [the patients].”

Imagine going out of your home not wearing a mask. You decide to go out for dinner with a friend at a restaurant located in one of the most populous malls in the metro. Upon entering, you are no longer required to put on your face shield, no health declaration forms are needed to be filled out, and you are allowed to dine in with no acrylic and plastic barriers between you and your friend. You sit right next to each other; your faces almost touch as you both manage to bring out bright smiles for a quick selfie.

No, we are not recalling the pre-pandemic period. We are looking at this possibility in the near future if only we can reach the target herd immunity of 70 percent of the total population vaccinated, which can only be achieved with the help of mass vaccination.

By doing so, our grandparents can freely go out and spend the rest of their retirement days with us without any worries. Persons with underlying health conditions will no longer have to be paranoid about getting the virus and getting hospitalized, and being mindful that they have to stay indoors to protect their weak immune system. Our sick friends can go to the beach and enjoy the healing effects of nature.

Workers and employees no longer have to distance themselves from their kids when they go home. The delivery rider who just knocked at your door to bring your order of pepperoni pizza and is now on his way home can just directly remove his helmet and hug his three-year-old son waiting for him at home. Essential workers like him can continue to work and keep the economy running without any worries of COVID-19 infection.

There is no one among us who is not affected by the pandemic. I was on strict quarantine for nearly two months for possibly having the virus. I had mental struggles, and I lost my job.

We will continue to suffer from COVID-19, unless we do our part in this war: to be vaccinated. We should do it for the people around us—our friends, our loved ones, our exhausted medical workers, our fellow Filipinos.

Be vaccinated. Be free. Be a hero.

CHENG ABIENA
Gattaran, Cagayan
cheng.abiena@gmail.com