'I'm getting shunned at work because I refuse to get vaccinated'

Dear Unvaccinated Worker,

To be or to not be vaccinated is a question of human rights.

The understanding of human rights is deeply rooted in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as the United Nations proclaimed in 1948.

Yes, Unvaccinated Worker, it is your right not to be vaccinated. However, every right has a twin accountability. There are consequences for every right that is exercised.

Please indulge me a moment as I tell you why I’m coming from the perspective that I am for vaccination.

In the time of COVID-19, to be vaccinated is a responsibility—to the self, to others, to the country. 

It is a responsibility to the self because we ought to protect ourselves from the menacing virus.

It is a responsibility to others because being vaccinated means you also care about the lives of other people. It means you don’t like to be a vulnerable carrier of the virus because unvaccinated people are more prone to the silent yet fatal enemy. 

It is a responsibility to the country because a nation populated by vaccinated people is more likely to recover from the economic damage wrought about by the virus in the last two years. Every individual ought to help the economy bounce back. 

Even to this day, it is more than the norm to be vaccinated. Wherever you go, whether in restaurants, malls, airports and clinics, they require your vaccination card. To social gatherings, be it weddings, parties, launches, they ask for your vaccination card. 

Being vaxxed is not only for your colleagues—it’s for yourself. It's for your protection. 

It’s free to be vaxxed and if you weigh the advantages vs. the disadvantages, to be vaxxed carries more weight in protecting the self and others. Be vaxxed or even have a booster shot. Unless you want to work from home and rely on Zoom for meetings, parties, socials, masses, and even funerals. This way, no one will ask for your vaccination card. 

To tell you honestly, I was down with COVID in July last year. It’s been a year since Dr. Ely Obillo, my pulmonologist, treated me while I was in isolation in my brother’s house. The virus affected my sense of smell that I regained three months after I was declared free of the virus. It also affected my mental health because it created fear in my brain many times while in isolation. To this day, however, the tell-tale sign that I weathered COVID was my 0.001% loss in my memory. I grope for words at times, even finding it hard to remember details of my interviews. But I always get to court my memory back—albeit with a little effort. I thank God it doesn’t happen many times anymore.

Dr. Obillo told me that two things helped me recover fast from my bout with the virus: one, my defenses were strong because I biked every day before I contracted the virus; two, I already had a dose of Astra Zeneca two months before I got the symptoms.

My doctor encouraged me to further fortify my system by availing myself of the second dose of Astra Zeneca in August last year, more than two weeks after he declared me free from the deadly pangs of the silent enemy. In February this year, I got my Pfizer booster. I don’t feel any side effects. I only feel insulated but not invincible still. The best part is, being inoculated, I am aware that I have defenses against the virus. I still am very careful, more so because I live with my septuagenarian mother, who is also fully vaccinated with booster shot.