Fire starters and careless conclusions

All it takes is a spark and you could burn down a large forest. And just like dry leaves and tinder, a gossip or, as in the song made famous by the late George Michael, “Careless Whispers” can ruin lives or scare people into panic.

If fire starters and careless whispers can cause harm, another form is what I call “careless conclusions,” arrived at by media outlets who want to get a scoop or get one over the competition or well meaning individuals who simply share or repost stuff without thoroughly considering the consequences.

Last week, a friend who is slightly a hypochondriac went on one of our Viber group chats and shared what looked like a social media post of  a foreign media news outlet. The post featured an image of COVID-19 vaccines of AstraZeneca.

Below the image the text stated: “AstraZeneca is withdrawing its COVID-19 vaccine worldwide just months after admitting it could cause a rare but dangerous side effect.”

The post or report did not categorically state that the pullout was because of a rare but dangerous side effect. It did not report many people getting sick or because of serious public health crisis. I never even saw or heard the alleged admission on the part of AstraZeneca so I was not sure about the accuracy of the statement.

But what I discovered was that the post really scared people in our Viber group who had been vaccinated with the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. Within minutes several guys posted that they and their family members were all vaccinated with the AstraZeneca brand, followed by the hands in prayer emoji.

The fear and anxiety were imaginable if not palpable. Who would not be concerned, given the suggested potentially dire outcome? After a few minutes, I decided to jump in and simply head off the worry and fear by responding:

“Guys, recalls are part of precautions to limit risks & compliance with international regulations. The cases of adverse reactions are so far limited in numbers (based on the word rare). Just watch your health & consult your family physician.”

Once the whole thing died down and lives went back to normal, I called my contacts in the pharmaceutical industry association a.k.a PHAP. The person promised to send word to AstraZeneca and before the end of the day, I received an email from my former EP on AGENDA Gab Mallari who was now doing agency work.     

Herein is the statement from AstraZeneca in response to the situation and the post:

“We are incredibly proud of the role Vaxzevria played in ending the global pandemic. According to independent estimates, over 6.5 million lives were saved in the first year of use alone and over three billion doses were supplied globally.

“Our efforts have been recognized by governments around the world and are widely regarded as being a critical component of ending the global pandemic. 

“As multiple, variant COVID-19 vaccines have since been developed, there is a surplus of available updated vaccines. This has led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied. 

“We will now work with regulators and our partners to align on a clear path forward to conclude this chapter and significant contribution to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

So why am I writing about all this? For starters, there are many people in the Philippines who will most likely spend a sleepless night or sweaty palms and palpitation, helplessly worrying about something that is not there, the same way my friends did.

The incident also reminded me of the “Dengvaxia controversy” that got so out of hand in media because of the haphazard way that an adverse finding was reported and subsequently publicized, politicized and became a perfect example of how good medicine becomes voodoo in the Philippines.

All the science and logic flew out the window. No studies or statistics were recorded. The politicians and crisis manufacturers simply shut down the gates. Who cares if there were a reported 700,000 kids who got the vaccine, one of them being my one and only daughter.

I tried to follow up on the aftermath or benefits from the Dengvaxia vaccine but no one was interested. The only thing that apparently goes on are the court cases against former DOH officials and doctors involved in the program.

They are being tried for corruption, etc., but no one is investigating if they were in fact practicing GOOD medicine and whether or not Dengvaxia works. My daughter, the kids in our farm along with their schoolmates never talked about getting dengue after being vaccinated. Ironically, Dengvaxia is available and used all over the world but won’t be in the Philippines. No surprises there!

The Dengvaxia controversy had a twin brother named “SUA” or the Sudden Unintended Acceleration controversy that hounded the early Mitsubishi Montero models. So many individuals jumped in on the controversy like a pack of hyenas biting off chunks, hoping to draw blood.

But what did we get from all of it? A number of used car sales men made tidy profits from owners who sold out of fear; politicians, broadcasters, reporters got enough materials to make halo-halo news, a reputable auto manufacturer got tarred and feathered, car dealerships got stuck with immovable inventory and lost money.

Only the rabble rousers benefitted from hours of air time, but in the end they too got nothing more. So, here I am in my small way, just trying to throw some cold water on people in a panic and to warn others, let’s wait for irrefutable facts, data, public admission even, before we start a fire or give someone an anxiety attack.  

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