THE national and local government units ought to be ready with the funds needed to procure ample supplies of the vaccines against COVID-19 as soon as these vaccines become widely available. Any delay would cost lives. Every moment counts.
Human vaccine trials for COVID-19 vaccines are underway. With global efforts poured in, vaccines will be developed soon, we pray.
Also, vaccines administered by government health personnel and hospitals should be given free of charge, fully subsidized by government. Vaccines bought by private hospitals and private doctors could likely be at cost although partial PhilHealth coverage would be most welcome.
Preparing the budget for the vaccine as early as now is the prudent course of action toward ensuring that all Filipinos are protected against the coronavirus. We must ensure the vaccines are given to every person who must be vaccinated.
We leave the scientific details and vaccine protocols to the experts on vaccines, but funding and procurement for public use are the purview of government.
In another COVID-related concern, we remind online consumers to be cautious of product advertisements that promise to prevent, treat or cure the novel coronavirus disease. There must be consumer vigilance against deceptive or false advertising in the digital market amid the current COVID-19 crisis. The government, too, should monitor, filter and remove such misleading product advertisements on a sustained basis, and to hold the offenders legally liable.
Some health products are advertised as “coronavirus protection” and marketed as highly effective as can be gathered from unsubstantiated claims like “can kill 99.9% of viruses,” “virus filtration of 99.7% and “inactivates coronavirus within 1 minute 99.99%.” Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, we urge all sectors, especially online shoppers, to be diligent and prudent when buying health products as the authorities have yet to approve specific treatments for this disease.
