For better or for worse, San Juan congressman Ronald Zamora, 76, has become the poster lolo of privilege and inequity in this COVID-19 pandemic.
In a public event in July, the lawmaker started a speech without a face mask, saying in a mix of English and Filipino: “If you’re wondering why Congressman Zamora is not wearing any mask, I will tell you. I have been vaccinated twice, twice over. Four times.”
In the same speech, he admitted that his first two jabs were bootleg vaccines from China, administered to him in December, even before the government’s official vaccination program began.
Later, he said, on the advice of his doctors, he took two more shots of the Pfizer vaccine because he was immunodeficient.
Since the congressman came out of the vaccination closet, others, it seems, have followed his lead.
The Quezon City government last week filed complaints against two people who secured a third COVID-19 jab in the city’s inoculation hubs, despite a declaration by the national government that booster shots are not authorized.
The first person was reportedly fully inoculated with the Sinovac vaccine in Mandaluyong in May, before registering through Quezon City’s vaccination program, and getting vaccinated with a Moderna vaccine this month.
The second violator bragged about receiving a third dose of the Pfizer vaccine, after earlier getting two doses in Quezon City.
All these led the chief implementer of the National Task Force against COVID-19, Carlito Galvez, to declare these “vaccine hoppers” immoral.
“Vaccine hopping is illegal,” Galvez said in a mix of English and Filipino. “COVID-19 vaccines are considered gold. These should not be wasted because we want all Filipinos to be immunized.”
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) urged local governments in the National Capital Region to issue ordinances punishing unauthorized injections of the COVID-19 vaccine as a booster shot.
Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte decried the actions of the “greedy” vaccine hoppers.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said at a time when vaccination rates are so low, taking booster shots was against government policy. He gave Zamora a pass, however, saying the government respected the decision of his physician.
Be that as it may, one thing is clear: Taking a booster shot at this point, when there simply aren’t enough vaccines, deprives another person of his first or second dose of a life-saving jab.
As of Aug. 12, only 12.18 million or 17.9 percent of the 68 million eligible Filipinos targeted by the vaccination program have been fully inoculated. Another 14 million have received a first dose.
Clearly, the words “greedy” and “immoral” can easily be applied to anyone who, by means of fraud or by virtue of their wealth and position, takes more than his or her fair share.
It is even more reprehensible when having done this, they brag about it, either in social media–or by showing up at a public event without a mask.