Living under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic for eight months has created gaps in people’s lives.
For the families of the almost 9,000 Filipinos who have died since the pandemic began, the gap has been devastating. For the millions who have lost their livelihood or jobs, the gap can be a matter of survival. Emergency assistance from the government can help, but it cannot last.
There have been gaps in the government response to the pandemic as well. In the initial months, the release of assistance to medical frontliners and the general public was delayed. As late as October, President Rodrigo Duterte warned local officials that they could be suspended over delays in the distribution of cash aid to low-income families in their jurisdictions.
There has also been a credibility gap in the way health protocols are enforced. This week, we were treated to the spectacle of the top police official, who was widely criticized for violating quarantine restrictions in May during his birthday party, warning the public that people who attend Christmas parties over the holidays will be arrested.
But an even more serious gap between supply and demand may hurt the country’s efforts to buy the millions of doses of COVID-19 vaccines we need as they become available.
Worldwide, rich countries representing just 14 percent of the world’s population have bought up 53 percent of all the most promising COVID-19 vaccines, the People’s Vaccine Alliance says.
The alliance, which includes Amnesty International, Frontline AIDS, Global Justice Now and Oxfam, notes that nearly 70 poor countries will only be able to vaccinate one in 10 people against COVID-19 next year unless urgent action is taken by governments and the pharmaceutical industry to make sure enough doses are produced.
By contrast, wealthier nations have bought up enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations nearly three times over by the end of 2021. Canada tops the chart with enough vaccines to vaccinate each Canadian five times, the alliance says.
Against this backdrop, the government’s goal of eventually immunizing 60 percent to 70 percent of the population—that’s about 60 million to 70 million Filipinos—will likely run up against a worldwide supply gap.
There is serious funding gap as well. Of the P72.5 billion earmarked for the purchase of COVID-19 vaccines in the 2021 national budget, only P2.5 billion is funded.
One opposition senator says this is like issuing a check without adequate funding and hoping it will not bounce.
The government dismisses such concerns, saying it can always borrow the rest—but the lack of funds in a tight supply situation does not bode well for our worthy—but ambitious–vaccination targets.
Clearly, then, there will be a gap between the time we want to vaccinate 60 million people and the time the vaccine doses become widely available and we can afford them.
It is during this gap that it become crucial that we keep our guard up and take the only measures we can, at the moment, to keep the pandemic from spreading. Through all the quarantine fatigue, we must still observe the three Ws for COVID safety—wear a mask, wash your hands and watch your distance.