February 28, 2021 — “We are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel with the coming of safe and effective vaccines and therapeutics after nearly a year of community quarantine and remote online learning,” said President Marco Alfredo M. Benitez, President of the Philippine Women’s University in his opening remarks during the Webinar on “COVID-19 Vaccine and Face-to-Face Classes” last 21 January 2021. Organized by the South Manila Educational Consortium (SMEC) and UP Manila, the webinar shared knowledge and expertise among stakeholders and foster collaboration among institutions as they prepare for the gradual return of face-to-face classes once allowed by the government.
SMEC is composed of Adamson University, De La Salle University, De La Salle College of Saint Benilde, Emilio Aguinaldo College, Lyceum of the Philippines University, Philippine Christian University, Philippine Normal University, Philippine Women’s University, Santa Isabel College Manila, Saint Scholastica’s College Manila, Saint Paul’s University Manila, and University of the Philippines Manila.
Dr. Jubert Benedicto, UP-PGH pulmonologist, mentioned in his discussion that the number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines has been observed to plateau; however, allowing more people mobility will increase the number of cases. He said majority of the cases were asymptomatic and mild while in the hospital setting, most patients were senior citizens with comorbidities. He stressed that even if these vulnerable individuals were isolated at home but not their contacts (especially when dealing with a mobile population), unfortunate outcomes resulted.
Dr. Anna Ong Lim, a member of the DOH Technical Advisory Group on COVID-19, emphasized that a whole-of-society approach is critical for disease prevention and control. She mentioned that many people are interested in being vaccinated, but there is very limited availability of the vaccines at this time. The World Health Organization recommends that one to ten percent of the national population may be targeted as priority groups to be vaccinated which will include healthcare workers as well as older adults and as availability of vaccines increases, individuals with comorbidities and certain social demographic groups at significantly higher risk of severe disease and death may be added.
She also discussed how quickly COVID-19 vaccines have come into use in comparison to some of the vaccines that were part of our national immunization programs. Because of the urgency of the situation, Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) was given to COVID vaccines by various international agencies. Food and Drug Administration Director General Dr. Rolando Enrique Domingo emphasized that along with the FDA giving authority to use a product that is still under development, the agency will watch very closely the people who will be vaccinated for side effects. He also discussed that vaccination providers must comply with the terms and training required by the DOH for the vaccination program.
Dr. Eduardo Banzon, Health Specialist of the Asian Development Bank pointed out that it’s going to be a huge challenge to achieve a target of at least 50% to 70% of population vaccinated by the end of this year. He estimated that if vaccination would start in April and if 50% is aimed for, that would mean 150,000 people should be vaccinated every day. At 70%, that would mean 250,000 people being vaccinated every day which may overwhelm the vaccinators.
Dr. Banzon stressed that vaccination will help control the spread, transmission, and the number of cases becoming severe that will eventually help open the economy. Dr. Ong Lim explained that having the vaccine doesn’t guarantee protection from ever getting sick again nor can it stop an infected person from spreading it. She stressed that we cannot let go of our minimum public health standards, even if most of the people are vaccinated.
Again on the topic of education, Dr. Bert Tuga, President of the Philippine Normal University said, “Our mindset in terms of learning delivery is basically flexible learning and remote learning for the year 2021; although we are preparing for the possibility of limited face-to-face instruction in selected subjects or courses. This is still subject to guidelines that will be issued by the IATF.” Maria Encarnacion Dychanco, Vice President for Academic Services of Saint Paul University Manila, mentioned that educational institutions should find ways to improve flexible learning and reach out more to their students.
Dr. Jose Paulo Campos, president of Emilio Aguinaldo College, identified the challenges for delivering clinical education at the clinical level for professions like Medicine, Dentistry, Nursing, Medical Technology, Physical Therapy, and Midwifery. CHED and the PRC may have to adjust some of the requirements for clinical interaction with patients and allow remote or simulation-delivered education.
“We in the education sector have the mandate to produce the next generation of the workforce. If we stop teaching, if you close our schools, there’s going to be a gap in the workforce in the country. COVID is a big challenge and hopefully with the whole of society approach we will overcome,” asserted UP Manila Chancellor Carmencita Padilla.
Charmaine Lingdas
Published in UP Manila Healthscape Special COVID-19 Issue No. 24
