More than 2.8 million Filipinos are now fully vaccinated while 8.8 million have received their first dose. The government is exploring the possibility of easing travel restrictions, even as there is legitimate concern about ensuring the legitimacy of vaccination cards that will be presented.
These numbers come as the Philippines registered 4,114 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of documented COVID infections to 1.4 million since the virus first came to our shores early last year. Some 49,613 cases are active while the positivity rate — the percentage of those who tested positive out of all those who got tested — is now down to 10.5 percent.
Outside of the Philippines, the Tokyo Olympics is pushing through, with the opening ceremonies to be held July 23, even as only a handful of VIPs will be present and no fans will be allowed to attend.
Make no mistake about it. Despite these small gains, the situation remains precarious. The Delta variant continues to cause surges in many parts of the world, and another, newer variant, Lambda, is being monitored as well. There are suggestions it is an even more transmissible variety.
This week we are told that shipments of Sinovac may not arrive on time because of delays in production.
Elsewhere in the world, the gap between rich and poor countries is widening. The former are seeing larger percentages of their population getting inoculated; in many of the latter, the percentages are pitifully negligible.
It is an interesting time as we catch a tantalizing glimpse of a return to the life we once knew, then realize that we are not progressing fast enough. It will be a lot longer before the world as a whole can be rid of the pandemic, and for now the only thing we can do is continue observing health protocols, take only calculated risks—and imagine.