COVID-19 pandemic is not a Netflix movie

A week ago, my colleague and I scurried to a nearby government hospital to avail ourselves of the last few slots of COVID-19 shots. Through quick networking with concerned doctor friends, we were able to secure precious slots for the vaccine. We were lucky to be included in the last three shots for that particular vaccine by AstraZeneca.

We are doctors working at a multispecialty clinic in Cubao, Quezon City. We are included in the City Health Office’s list of health care workers who are qualified to receive COVID-19 vaccines, pending availability. Since we don’t know when the vaccines would be available, we grabbed whatever opportunity was present soonest.

This scenario is both gratifying and saddening for us in the medical field. Grateful that we are the first priority for the vaccines, but sad as well that there is indeed a dearth of shots for everyone. True, the government is following a priority list for the shots, but the reality is, not much vaccines are coming in, global factors notwithstanding.

The surge in COVID-19 cases the past week isn’t helping either. It just further highlights the inadequacies of our health care system and the people’s lack of personal and civic responsibilities as well. Not everything is the government’s fault. One year (and counting) into this global health crisis, we still see people wearing their face masks on their chin and face shields worn as headbands.

Maybe if everyone would just pitch in and adhere strictly to the health care protocols, cases would go down. And variants would stop from mutating further. It is still unbelievable that there’s a sector that claims that this pandemic is a conspiracy.

Wake up, people! This pandemic is not a Netflix movie. This is real. And we should all get our act together.

PAMELA I. CLAVERIA, MD
dokceemitch@gmail.com