“Should I get the vaccine?”

“Which one should I take?”

“Is it safe?”

The most pressing global issue facing every country today is the Covid-19 vaccine. The race to protect their general populations against the rapidly-mutating virus is front-and-center for all governments. (The first ones on the finish line are the Vatican and Gibraltar—two comparatively small territories—have completed all their adult vaccinations.)  

The Philippines, for its part, has been dogged by issues of procurement, prioritization, and protection rates. We are tailing other Asian neighbors like Singapore who are well into their vaccination programs.

The Philippine vaccine rollout started March 1 when 756 frontliners got their first jab of the Sinovac’s CoronaVac. Dr. Gerardo Legaspi, the head of Philippine General Hospital, will go down in history as the first individual to be inoculated in the country...(officially).

How Do Vaccines Work?

When the immune system is exposed to a virus, it creates specific antibodies to fight off that virus. When the disease is stamped out, the antibodies remain (for months or years)—and you can say that the immune system has a memory—“remembering” viruses, bacteria, and antigens it previously dealt with.

Vaccines work by putting a “memory” into the immune system.

Contained in the vials are antigen parts (or blueprint) that help the immune system make antibodies for Covid-19. The antigens injected into the body are harmless/inactive and do not cause the disease, but it will trick the immune system into producing antibodies as if it is actually being attacked by Covid.

Later, should an inoculated individual be exposed to the actual virus, his immune system already has the antibodies to fight off infection.

Vaccines piggyback on what the immune system naturally does—produce antibodies. They do it in a benign way—using weakened protein components that mimic disease.

Are They Safe?

The 2017 Dengvaxia controversy has put a serious damper on Filipinos’ willingness to take the vaccine. The Covid vaccine rollout was compounded when news of adverse reactions and even deaths of frontliners who have taken the vaccine.

In the Philippines, a health worker died after receiving the jab. It has since been cleared by the National Adverse Events Following Immunization Committee (NAEFIC), the panel tasked to look into the incident, that the death was caused by Covid-19 itself and not the vaccine. Comorbidities also played a role in the case.    

A vaccine, before it is deemed safe for public use, goes through multiple layers of testing, evaluation, monitoring, and review. Its efficacy and side-effects are studied rigorously—testing on different demographics and populations, with the collected data examined very carefully. 

Under normal circumstances, vaccine development would take around 10-15 years. The clinical trials alone can take 6-7 years to complete. (The previous record for vaccine development was for mumps, which took 4 years.)   

The Covid-19 vaccines available today are the fastest developed vials in history, coming to market in less than a year. The speed with which they were developed has been central to the question of their efficacy and safety.

Ultimately, safety is not determined by the panel of researchers themselves. Government oversight ensures that any vaccine released to its citizens is safe and effective. The Covid-19 vaccines get scrutinized by a broad committee of independent experts who thoroughly look into the experiments and data to determine the accuracy of claims.   

Every country using the doses have their own respective agencies. In the case of the Philippines, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves the vaccines for public use.

How Did We Get The Vaccines So Quickly?

There are several reasons why the Covid-19 vaccines were developed very quickly:

1. China, where Covid-19 was first studied, was able to quickly sequence the genome of the novel virus.

As early as January 2020, Chinese doctors and researchers were able to identify the RNA sequence of this new virus. Not only that, they shared it with the international community of medical experts. With the RNA sequence known, everybody trying to develop a vaccine for it had a head start. This is one of the reasons why vaccine development time was cut without cutting any corners.

2. It was prioritized and stamped as “urgent.”

Practically everything else was dropped in favor of the vaccine. It was not just a commercial race between vaccine developers, it was a race against time as more and more people were infected and died from the virus.

Funding was made available very quickly. In normal times, grants and proposals would be screened very carefully. With Covid, everybody was on board at the onset and you need not convince anybody of the wisdom of funding the project. Even governments flexed their financial muscles and relaxed bureaucracy to facilitate development.

In short, the Covid vaccines jumped all queues.   

3. There were a lot of cases.

One of the reasons vaccines take too long to develop is the lack of cases with which to conduct the tests. With the pandemic raging, vaccine companies and medical laboratories have no shortage of qualified individuals for the trials.

There was a good number of volunteers for this vaccine trial. Countries volunteered to help in the development. International cooperation showed its best face.   

4. Parallel processing happened throughout development.

Making a vaccine ordinarily requires sequential progress. One doesn’t proceed to the next step without completing the previous one. With this vaccine, many processes were going on at the same time.

For example, there was a rolling review of U.S. government regulators. Instead of waiting for the whole process to conclude before receiving and reviewing the data, (which took months), government regulators were on-hand every step of the way.

In the production stage, vaccine companies took a calculated risk by producing the vaccines even before final approval.

While all these things were happening, the government was also readying the groundwork for the rollout.

All these and more synergized for the fastest developed vaccines in human history—safe and effective against Covid-19.

(The different vaccines might have reported different efficacy rates, but all of them have 100% protection against hospitalization and deaths. This means that taking any of the vaccines protects the individual from, at the very least, being hospitalized or die because of Covid)  

So what is the best vaccine to take? It’s the one that’s available when you become eligible. 

How About the Side-effects?

News of deaths and adverse reactions to the vaccines have been documented around the world. As of yet, there has been no established causal link found between the deaths and the vaccine. (What is only clear is that the deaths happened after the jab.)

While a majority of the individuals show no adverse reactions to the jab, some people reported feeling side-effects that include:

* pain, redness, and swelling at the injection site

* headache

* muscle pain

* fever and chills

* fatigue

* nausea

* light-headedness

* diarrhea

These side-effects typically last a few hours to about three days.

The vaccines (except Johnson & Johnson’s)come in two doses. The first shot primes the body, and the second shot amplifies the protection.

According to data, the second round of shots often has more pronounced side effects. For the Pfizer vaccine, for example, 7% of participants (ages 18-55) reported fever after the first injection, while 31% had a fever after the subsequent one. For Moderna, 1% (ages 18-64) experienced symptoms after the first shot, and 17% reported the same for the second shot.

As mentioned earlier, vaccines incite the immune system to respond. Feeling sick after the jab means your immune system is mounting a response to the simulated threat. It means the vaccine is working. We know of these side-effects and we expect them.   

But don’t worry if you don’t feel sick after the jab. Trials have shown that antibody production still takes place even when the individual doesn’t show any side-effects. In fact, the majority of the inoculated individuals wouldn’t have adverse reactions to the injections.

As with any other medical procedure, medicine or cure, there are always risks for complications. But the government encourages everyone to get the Covid-19 vaccine because the benefits greatly outweigh the risks.

How To Get The Vaccine?

While the vaccine is NOT MANDATORY, the government encourages everyone to take it.

*Pregnant women can take the vaccine after their first trimester. (Consult your doctor for closer guidance.)

**Individuals 16 years old and below are not allowed to take the vaccine. (Studies on their safety and efficacy are still underway.) 

The vaccine is free. The cost will be shouldered by the Philippine government, with priority given to our frontliners, senior citizens, indigent population, and uniformed personnel.

Currently, the Philippine government is in talks with all 8 major vaccine providers to deliver the shots in the soonest possible time.

Once the vaccine supplies arrive, the local government units (LGU’s) will spearhead the vaccine rollout in their respective constituencies. The specific steps in every city/province will be a little different, but as ideated by our Department of Health, getting vaccinated will include:

1. Registration/Enlistment

Wait for instructions from your local officials for the schedule and the exact process.

2. Screening

Before any shot is given, you will be screened for allergies, and your medical history will be taken. This enables medical personnel to ascertain the propriety of the vaccine for every individual.

You will then be given a schedule and a place to present yourself for the first jab.

3. First Injection

Before the first shot, you will be asked to sign a consent form proving that you are taking the vaccine freely and without coercion.

After the injection, you will be asked to stay for 1 hour for observation. This ensures that should any adverse reaction take place, it can immediately be addressed.

You will also be given a vaccination card with the schedule of your next shot.

4. Second Injection

You will also be asked to stay around after the second shot.

There will be passive monitoring for the next 12 months for any side effects that could crop up later.  

 You are considered vaccinated 2 weeks after you’ve received the second injection.

As of yet, we do not have established data as to how long the immunity from the vaccines lasts, but medical experts are predicting that this might very well be an annual shot that people get, just like the seasonal flu shots.   

Until everyone is properly inoculated, as always, stay safe and follow the government’s health protocols.

Bloodworks Lab, as the country’s premier medical laboratory, supports our government’s efforts to get everyone vaccinated. If you or your loved ones have a special condition (eg. allergies, asthma, cancer diabetes, immuno-compromised), please consult with your physician for closer guidance.

Bloodworks Lab is your one-stop-shop for your blood test needs.

We are proud to be the first laboratory in the Philippines to offer the Anti Acetylcholine Receptor (lgG) Antibody Test and the Anti N-Methyl-D-Aspartate Receptor (Anti NMDA Receptor) Antibody Test.

Our branches are in Alabang, Katipunan, and Cebu.