Big ComeVacc

Santiago City National High School- Vaccinated Population

Susceptible

The self cannot be observed directly but is inferred from various behaviors that can be observed. Such makes man susceptible to trials and challenges that may come their way, especially in times like the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Climate-chained

Human-induced crisis

Scientists chained themselves to the front doors of JPMorgan Chase Bank and to the gate of the White House. A public outcry demanding action to cease a climate crisis. The climate is an important factor that affects the whole component of the ecosystem on earth. Scientists consider its severe changes an ecological emergency. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has claimed the recent Climate Change as “human-induced global warming.”

Writing articles and tak- ing action

Furthermore, the IPCC’s summaries of scientific research on climate change have gradually stated that “Human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century.” Studies have also concluded that around 97% of scientists’ published research agrees with humans being the predominant cause of global warming. However, “Only residing within the peer-reviewed literature has not worked at all,” Peter Kalmus, a NASA climate scientist said. He was one of the four scientists arrested in Los Angeles on April 6 after they had protested to emphasize the severity of the climate crisis.

“I’m here because scientists are not being listened to.” He said in a video during their protest. Their group, Scientist Rebellion, organized the international campaign that prompted their actions at the JP Morgan Chase building in downtown Los Angeles. He also states that their group of scientists chose the JP Morgan Chase Bank among other investment banks because it was the largest financier of fossil fuels globally. The Fossil Fuel Finance Report of 2022 mentions that from 2016 to 2021, JP Morgan Chase provided $382bn to the fossil fuel industry.

Effects of fossil fuel

2018 Climate reports from the ICPP say that 89% of global Carbon dioxide emissions came from fossil fuels and industry. Greenhouse gases generated from burning fossil fuels trap the sun’s heat and raise the global temperature every year. This has resulted in the warmest decade ever recorded, according to a Climate report of the United Nations organization. “The science indicates that as fossil fuels continue to heat our planet, everything we love is at risk,” Peter said.

Climate actions

Kalmus also explained the newly released IPCC Working Group 3 report. The report warns about the amount of current and planned fossil energy facilities being more than twice the amount that would increase the planet’s current global temperature of 1.2°C over the average temperature of 1.5°C. The IPCC report also mentioned the abrupt long-term changes such as ocean warming, rise in sea levels, biodiversity loss, and extreme weather that will challenge societies to adapt. These impacts of climate change may only take 5-6 years to happen and are the reason Kalmus implores people to act and listen to their warnings.

Scientists like Peter Kalmus also urge political leaders to stop the funding and expansion of fossil fuels. The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and thousands of scientists suggest actions such as cutting emissions and financing the required adjustments to prevent further global warming. Reinforcing the Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty, and its long-term goals to guide all nations in reducing emissions and cooperating to adapt to the impacts of climate change are also significant actions in controlling this global emergency. How we choose to act in the present affects the direction this climate crisis is heading towards. Our contributions to halt global warming now and moving forward determines if our earth will remain irreparably climate–chained.

Returning to our old ”normal” requires coming back to face-to-face work and classes. It is through fighting against COVID-19 with our vaccines that we can get closer to our normal way of living. Pilot testing of faceto-face classes has already been implemented in multiple schools in the country. After children, ages five and up, were allowed to be vaccinated, the number of fully vaccinated individuals increased. Vaccination of students is encouraged in hopes of returning to their physical classrooms instead of virtual classes.

On February 24, 2021, the Department of Education (DepEd) complied with President Rodrigo Duterte’s plan to extend the postponement of face-toface class implementation. “We understand that the availability and rollout of vaccines in the country are critical factors for this undertaking,” DepEd said in an official statement. They also added that they are making preparations such as action plans for when the President gives his approval of the limited face-toface classes’ implementation.

Now that they are slowly implementing the pilot face-to-face classes, they have laid out conditions for their field offices in hopes of observing the COVID-19 safety protocols. One of the conditions includes that the pilot implementations will only take place in locations considered low-risk or formerly at least under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ). Moreover, they propose that there must be a commitment to the shared responsibility of DepEd, the local government unit (LGU), the providers of transportation, and the parents or guardians of the students. DepEd also laid out strict health and safety standards that shall be followed at home, during travel to and from schools, and within the school premises.

One thousand nine hundred four public schools nationwide have been identified as possible participants for the pilot study of limited physical classes. With the further progress of around 70.3M people vaccinated in the Philippines, or approximately 64.1% of the population, according to Our World in Data, the implemented limited faceto-face classes in several schools are expected to rise in number. There are around 4,295 schools that have started in-person classes, and 6,213 schools are ready for implementation on March 2, 2022.

President Duterte approved the progressive expansion of the implementation of face-to-face classes on February 22, 2022.

As the Department of Education continues to coordinate with more national and local authorities, parents, teachers, health experts, and service providers in planning for limited physical classes, rolling out vaccines in the country also plays a significant part in making this possible. Vaccination is the shield that prevents further COVID-19 virus transmissions, and it also allows students to learn in a safer environment with extra protection from the virus. This is why teaching and non-teaching personnel participating in the limited face-to-face classes are required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Philippine News Agency.

On November 15, 2021, Napo Elementary School’s students participated in pilot in-person classes in Barangay

Naming Games

Napo, Linamon, Lanao del Norte. In preparation for this, they made makeshift cubicles to separate students during the face-to-face classes. NES was one of the six schools that DepEd allowed to continue with pilot physical classes in their province. Among the 15,000 learners involved in the pilot implementations of in-person classes there are no reported cases of COVID-19. “Young children have a high level of immunity against diseases,” said Briones.

In addition to the information regarding the ”new normal,” students participating in face-to-face classes are not required to be vaccinated against COVID-19. “It is not necessarily required. The parents will be the ones to decide on that, but of course, we will encourage them,” Briones stated during a televised public briefing.

Vaccination is key to the resumption of face-to-face classes. It is also the effective prevention and extra layer of protection that secures the future of the education of younger generations. Vaccination is the vital step that brings us closer to our ”normal” before the COVID-19 Pandemic struck. Through continuous vaccination in our country, it is not only our in-person classes that will return and have a big comeback.

The COVID-19 vaccine is continuously made available worldwide as the demand for it is still present amid the pandemic. It is designed to prevent transmissions. There is also a certainly acquired immunity against COVID-19 through vaccination. As new variants of the virus continue to emerge, the public health officials state that it is time to consider the next booster shots. The second booster is already recommended for certain people to reinforce the protection provided by the first shots of the vaccine. Those at risk of COVID-19 due to comorbidities also have extended protection from the disease. Vaccines are made to help the immune system recognize the SARS-COV-2. This lowers the risk of spreading the virus. According to the COVID-19 vaccine tracker, vaccines are the best way to train the immune system to recognize viruses, or pieces of viruses, called antigens. This helps the immune system create antibodies and other defenses to protect from harmful diseases.

Additionally, there are 11 approved vaccines by Food and Drug Administration in the Philippines (FDA); these are COVOVAX (Novavax formulation), Comirnaty, Spikevax, Sputnik V, Sputnik Light, Janssen, Vaxzevria, Covaxin, Covilo, CoronaVac and Sinopharm (Wuhan). But the most preferred vaccines are Comirnaty, Spikevax, Johnson & Janssen, AstraZeneca, and CoronaVac.

The shots used today as second booster doses are the same as the original or primary vaccine. Experts also tried another strategy: simply adding booster after booster of the same vaccines. Another study to optimize the vaccines is it is the better way to rely upon the best ones.

For those people with a health condition and over the age of 50, their immune system weakens over time. So the health officials recommend that after the first four months a second booster dose should be received.

At recent, experts are looking into the potential benefits of adding another booster dose. The research shows that in the first booster the rates of severe disease cases remain low for those who have not received a vaccine booster. Another effect of the vaccines such as Pfizer, BioNTech, or Moderna on a few young individuals is inflammation of the heart tissue and the risk of blood clots.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people may experience side effects after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine dose. These effects include pain, redness, and swelling on the arm where you got the shot while the rest of the body will experience tiredness, headache, muscle pain, chills, fever, and nausea. These are the normal signs that their body is building protection but the side effects will go away in a few days. Some people have no side effects and very few experience allergic reactions.

Antibodies are important, not only as a contributor to the strong immune defense against COVID-19. T-cells are the central players in the immune response to viral infections. T stands for thymus, which occurs in the final stage of development.

Behind the most successful vaccines are already developed and tested new versions of Beta, Delta, and Omicrons variants. Companies and drug manufacturers, together with health officials recommend additional boosters whether or not the testing combinations of these shots will be better or could be used for longer periods of time.

For now, the rest are vaccinated and boosted. The best way to stop the spread of the virus is to limit exposure and follow health protocols such as social distancing, sanitation, and wearing of facemasks. It is an individual’s choice if they want to be vaccinated. It is also important to keep in mind that having a healthy body before receiving primary vaccines and booster shots is key to avoiding possible adverse effects of the vaccines. After all, we may be quite susceptible to unexpected effects. Preventive measures to avoid these are significant to stopping the transmission of COVID-19 viruses and the challenges yet to come.

The president of the United States of America, Joe Biden, has signed a law that aims to decrease the rising anti-Asian racism attacks in their country after the COVID-19 pandemic struck. There is a spike in the number of cases in which East Asians have been harassed and violently attacked for spreading the “China virus” in the United States. That is why President Joe Biden wishes to prevent COVID-19 hate crimes through the recently signed law. However, outside the United States, the emergence of new COVID-19 variants has caused racism to increase in countries like Singapore. Furthermore, this has led the World Health Organization to propose a new way of labeling virus mutations to ease the stigma that springs from using place or origin names.

WHO announced that COVID-19 variants would be named according to the letters of the Greek alphabet in May 2021. The first variant that was discovered in the United Kingdom was called “Alpha,” like the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Not all variants that emerge and are given names are worrisome since the mutations are often small or weaken the virus. However, there are times that variants are well-known for having a high threat level in the variant pecking order. An example would be the Omicron variant that takes after the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet. It is one of the variants that WHO sees as “variants of concern.” The variant threat levels in order of severity are “variant of interest,” “variant of concern,” and “variant of high consequence.” The following variant name in line is expected to be called “pi” if WHO chooses not to skip over it due to the fact that some Greek alphabet letters are familiar names that may cause stigma or misunderstandings.

Aside from helping curb the rising anti-Asian hate crimes, racism, and xenophobic attacks, the recently proposed naming system also simplifies the tracking of COVID-19 virus mutations. This helps WHO and scientists to assess every variant that has emerged over the past years and determine the severity of the illness and its efficacy in transmitting the mutated virus. Additionally, the new naming system allows the variant name to be more memorable and easier to understand for the general public.

The variants of concerns have been assigned names to eliminate the stigma attached to the country where it was first identified. The Alpha variant was designated its name on December 18, 2020, after it was first seen in the UK. Beta was first detected in South Africa before receiving its designated Greek alphabet letter name on December 18, 2020. The Gamma variant emerged in the country of Brazil and was given the title on January 11, 2021. Delta then showed up in India and got its name on May 11, 2021.

Now, Omicron, known as B.1.1.529 by scientists, received its name on November 26, 2021.

The variants of interest, Lambda, and Mu, were first seen in Peru and Colombia, respectively. Lambda was designated its name on June 24, 2020. Meanwhile, Mu was given the name on August 30, 2021.

The outdated practice of naming viruses after places have been a long-standing naming system that has its ramifications and dire consequences for the country of origin or used animal species. The Spanish flu that did not even originate in Spain had to face the stigma that came from using the geographic location as its name. Spain was neutral during the First World war and was one of the only countries that didn’t censor the reports of the flu outbreak in their country. After word spread and the name “Spanish flu” was used, the stigma that stemmed from it put the country and its citizens in a tough spot.

Stepping up the naming game of viruses often doesn’t pop up in people’s minds, but just like the names of people and animals, it is something significant in people’s lives. Now that we are amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic, its importance is magnified and has a big effect on our society’s response to its emerging variants. WHO’s decision to establish a new naming system for viruses and their variants plays an integral part in providing easier names to remember and to be used by people and scientists alike. It also provides names that avoid leaving a negative image or stigma to the country, geographical location, and animal it may have originated from or have relations with. The naming game may be something we usually brush over when we think of essential and life-changing news. Still, it’s an equally significant label that we are often affected by, especially in the pandemic we face today.

A total of 1,445 students from 65 schools over Isabela participated in the said event, making it the biggest series of contests, workshops, and webinars across the region.