Alpha, Beta, Delta. ABD. Those are the letters representing the type of COVID variants the world has been dealing with. Dear Lord, please don’t let it go on farther down the alphabet. But if C has been omitted, it could mean that there is no possibility that we will have to go through the entire alphabet before this virus lets go of the human race. No matter how we try to assure ourselves that Mr. COVID is on the way out, we again hear of countries that have been stricken by it.
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Ironically, however, the threat from COVID has not stopped some countries from their aggressiveness, and we still hear of conflicts, the most recent of which is the taking over by the Taliban of several provinces of Afghanistan. One wonders if both countries have managed to keep the virus away, which is why they can still concentrate on power grabbing and conflicts. But at least one good news from medical sources is that children can now be vaccinated, whereas, earlier, inoculations were said to be prohibited for them.
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And for those who, until now, still have reservations against vaccinations, they should be told that in the United States, it has been reported that all those who died recently, were discovered to be unvaccinated! So let us not be resistant, or even just hesitant, and even be instrumental in convincing the non-believers to undergo vaccination. Our officials and top leaders of government have been working very hard to acquire the vaccines so their people can be immunized, but how can their efforts to drive this virus away work if some people still resist, and defy the pleas of their officials for them to undergo it?
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I was comforted to hear that in our city, vaccination teams are now going to several areas, bringing the privilege to the community, so that even those who used to be hesitant and have negative ideas about the process, have agreed to go through it, seeing how their neighbors and friends are reacting to it. One would have thought that this kind of ignorance had disappeared decades, and generations ago, but from the reactions of a lot of people, some of them, even city residents, it looks as if civilization and its advances have not still gotten into their minds.
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We should sympathize with the people of Israel that has also recorded a lot of stricken citizens, among them the elderly. I heard that they have adopted the third doses of the vaccines to those over the age of 50. Well, at least it is fortunate for them to be wealthy enough to afford supplying such medications for their people. I often wonder how far the efforts of our own government have reached in our own country. Has the vaccination drive reached all barangays and puroks, and have the people in them been informed enough about the benefits it could give them?
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Whenever I hear of the hundreds, even thousands of people in other countries being hit, and being helpless against this pandemic, I find myself giving thanks to the Lord, and pleading with Him for our continued protection. I don’t want to be a fear-monger, but news I got yesterday said that records in the countries hard hit by the COVID have shown that almost all the fatalities, had not undergone vaccination! Isn’t that tragic, when the vaccines – several types of them – are now available, and even provided free by their governments?
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But it is not only the COVID that the world has to worry about. Some countries are undergoing floods, even mudslides and wildfires. Compared to those, I would say that the COVID is easier to deal with, because faithful wearing of masks could protect one from its infection, but those other natural calamities are not so easily prevented or avoided. But I was really surprised to hear that Carmelite nuns in Iloilo have been hit by the COVID. Isn’t it that Carmelites are the most non-outgoing of all the religious orders? How did the virus ever get to their monastery?
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I would think that it may have reached them through items, like food and other needs, delivered to them, or by the very rare visitations by their own kin. That shows that it is really hard to avoid the COVID. I wonder – nuns are covered almost from head to foot and do not mingle with other people. Is it possible that they were not advised to also wear masks? I hope their Superiors will make a move to also have them vaccinated. I recall a saying in Ilonggo that God supposedly said, “Man, take care, and I will protect you”. It should be true in whatever circumstances we are in.*
