“VARIANTS of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) are still existing but generally, the pandemic level was already suppressed.”
This was what Philippine Medical Association (PMA) President Dr. Maria Minerva Calimag said as she stressed that “we cannot yet be certain that there will be no more Covid-19 cases in the country anymore.”
Calimag, who attended the induction of officers of the Negros Occidental Medical Society, cited the fact that there are still lockdowns happening in China, where the virus originated, hence, preventive measures should continue like the vaccination.
“We are already open to travel and the travel requirement is just vaccination card, hence, (we should remember that) in all things that are happening now, let’s just be safe,” she stressed.
When asked if there is a possibility that the vaccines have side effects, she said, no medicine has no side effects but what is important is that we need to look into the efficacy instead.
“Some patients don't tell what their actual health condition, or what they really feel and sometimes, it happens that the medicines and even the vaccines that they take have contraindications,” the doctor said.
She added that in the long years of medical studies, vaccinations are the main reason why there is hardly an emergence or reemergence of infectious diseases.
Calimag encouraged those who have not been vaccinated against Covid-19 to undergo the vaccination, including children, especially those who attending face-to-face classes.
Meanwhile, Calimag said they have pushed for the amendment of the Medical Act which started from Republic Act 2382 or the Medical Act of 1959, amended by Republic Act 4224 in 1965 and further amended by Republic Act 5946 in 1969.
There is a need to amend it because it is already out-of-date, thus they are seeking the support of lawmakers-members of the House of Representatives and Senators to undertake the proposed amendment, she said.
Calimag noted that they had their version of the proposed amendment dubbed as the “The Philippine Medical Act of 2022,” which they submitted to the House Committee on Civil Service Commission and House Committee on Health and next is the senate.
Calimag joined the induction of Dr. Miguel Tomas Sarabia, who is the 94th president of the Negros Occidental Medical Society, among other guests.*