Race Against Time (First Part)

I.

When the first batch of Covid-19 vaccines was flown in from Beijing last March, a family member was able to secure a vial and got a jab ahead of everyone else. It was of course, unacceptable, unspeakable even. But knowing how wretched the system was, anyone with military connections can secure a slot. Besides, the vaccines were avoided like flies back then. Hesitancy was so high that even healthcare workers refused to get inoculated by anything coming from China. So the government gave the first batch to anyone willing to be Sinovac's "Guinea Pigs." And there were a lot of them, actually. Born out of desperation, they signed up without even knowing the side effects of the inactivated vaccine.

II.

I was adamant to get the jab. In fact, I was once called out by the woke children on Twitter for saying, "why should I take the vaccine from the same country where this virus came from?" They said it was a racist remark. I retorted, "mama mo racist," just to taunt them back.

But my outlook began to change when I learned that the Favorite Aunt got it. Sinovac was offered to doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers and she was among the first to sign up for vaccination. The side effects were minimal. "Inantok lang ako," she claimed, and with the second wave last summer leaving us in a weeks-long state of anxiety, I signed up my mother when slots were assigned for the elderly.

III.

A month after a family member received a Sinovac vaccine ahead of everyone, the local government of Manila had announced that it will be inoculating the city's educators. It was Mid-April and the priority will be the elderly. The news broke out on the eve of the mass vaccination event. I immediately called the Favorite Aunt to seek her advice. She was very supportive of my decision to have my mom get the Sinovac vaccine. The next day, I drove her to the Palacio de Manila in Ermita to get her dose and as the needle found its way into her arm, her eyes revealed how terrified she was.

My mother was listed as one of those on the waiting list that morning. It turned out that the teachers belonging to the city's elementary and high school system were the ones scheduled that day, not the educators from the country's state universities in the city. As we were considered walk-ins, we almost went home, resigned to the idea that we would have to postpone and get another schedule. The series of miscommunications made us think that we would have to wait until the afternoon for our turn. With God's grace and my unyielding persistence though, we discovered that the queue had disappeared an hour after we arrived at the site.

She was among the first seniors to receive her first dose.

Inspired by our accomplishment, the Weatherman's dad had his first jab in another city the next day.

- to be continued -