Over 6T nabbed for mask 

rules violations in Bohol

CORTES, Bohol, Jan. 23 (PIA) -- Data from the Bohol Inter Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious (IATF-EID) Disease Daily COVID tracker infographics show that from three cases of local transmissions on Jan. 15, 2021, it skyrocketed to 18 a week later, on Jan. 23, 2021.

The 600 percent increase in local transmissions is even compounded with the seemingly increasing number of Boholanos who are not complying with the health and safety protocols against the spread of COVID-19.

Considered to be the among the best non-pharmaceutical Interventions (NPIs) that people and communities can follow to help slow the spread of illnesses, the wearing of face masks is among the community mitigation strategies identified to stop COVID-19 in its tracks.

From the Camp Francisco Dagohoy’s crime tracking system, records show that in the 291 days since Bohol implemented the community quarantine, some 6,412 Boholanos have been apprehended for violation of Executive Order No. 15, the local policy on the mandatory use of face masks outside the home.

In the Camp Dagohoy report delivered by Police Major Norman Nuez, he showed that of the 6,412 accumulated cases of face masks violations, police authorities nabbed 2,231 of them between October to December of last year.

The biggest apprehensions recorded here for face mask violations were 1,396 in June 2020 and 965 in May 2020.

While there is a noted decrease in apprehensions on the observance of the provincewide 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. curfew as stated in E.O. 13 and for senior citizens above 65 and minos below 18 as mandated by E.O. 16, the number of violators apprehended for not wearing face masks in public did not decrease, unlike other measures that Bohol implemented to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19.

For social distancing, from an all-time high of 5,192 apprehensions in June 2020, the figures dipped to 687 in December 2020.

Violations of the liquor ban under E.O. 17 and the implementation of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) guidelines in the pandemic also dropped from 194 in April 2020 to 15 in December 2020.

Apprehensions involving violations of the DOTr guidelines also went down from 1,476 in July 2020 to 147 in December 2020.

According to the World Health Organization, face masks should be used as part of a comprehensive strategy of measures to suppress transmission and save lives, even if its use alone is not sufficient to provide an adequate level of protection against COVID-19.

Bohol Gov. Arthur Yap has issued E.O 15 mandating the use of face masks by anyone who steps out of their homes.

The Department of Health has reminded the public that aside from wearing face masks properly, other precautions to stop the spread of COVID-19 should also be observed such as physical distancing, keeping rooms well ventilated, avoiding crowds, observing proper hygiene by frequently washing hands. (rahc/PIA7)

WEAR YOUR MASK. Even if biking has been qualified as a strenuous activity and wearing a mask could impede the biker's proper breathing, Municipio Inabanga in Bohol insists bikers should wear one during group rides and even in solo rides as a safety precation against the spread of COVID-19. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol)

BETTER ERR ON THE SAFE SIDE. Members of the Calape contact tracing team during a training organized by the PIA Bohol. (rahc/PIA-7/Bohol file photo)

Slight ‘side effects’ from

vaccines may be normal

CORTES, Bohol, Jan 22 (PIA) – Expect side effects in vaccines, but they should not be serious because serious side effects of vaccines are exceedingly rare.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Vaccination is a simple, safe, and effective way of protecting people against harmful diseases, before they come into contact with them.

Vaccination uses your body’s natural defenses to build resistance to specific infections and makes your immune system stronger.

Vaccines train your immune system to create antibodies, just as it does when it’s exposed to a disease.

Medical professionals and health workers however assure that while there may be some physical discomfort associated with the vaccines like fatigue, headaches, chills, muscle pains and slight fever, these are indications that the vaccines are doing what they are supposed to do.

Treat when the pain becomes unbearable, but not right away as we need to allow the vaccine to generate enough antibody response to identify the invading virus and find a way to kill it, explains nurse Machiavelia M. Caliao, of the Bohol Provincial Health Office.

Against coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the race to find effective vaccines have led researchers and leading vaccine experts to explore the traditional methods of creating vaccines, as well as deepened research into three more areas, one of which is considered a novel technology that would open up a new frontier for stem cell research.

According to the WHO, such methods include the use of inactivated or weakened virus vaccines, which use a form of the virus that has been inactivated or weakened so it doesn’t cause disease, but still generates an immune response. Vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella as well as for chicken pox and polio use this technology.

Another method which has been tested is using protein-based vaccines.

These use harmless fragments of proteins or protein shells that copy the pathogenic virus like COVID-19 virus, to safely generate an immune response.

Rather than injecting a whole pathogen to trigger an immune response, sub-unit vaccines contain purified pieces of it, which have been specially selected for their ability to stimulate immune cells. As these fragments are incapable of causing disease, these vaccines are considered very safe.

Other protein based vaccines in widespread use include hepatitis B and acellular pertussis vaccines (protein subunit), pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (polysaccharide), and the MenACWY vaccine, which contains polysaccharides from the surface of four types of the bacteria which causes meningococcal disease joined to diphtheria or tetanus toxoid.

Still another group of researchers dove into the world of viral vector vaccines, which use a virus that has been genetically engineered so that it can’t cause disease, but produces coronavirus proteins to safely generate an immune response.

Viral vector-based vaccines differ from most conventional vaccines in that they don’t actually contain antigens, but rather use the body’s own cells to produce them.

They do this by using a modified virus (the vector) to deliver genetic code for antigen, in the case of COVID-19 spike proteins found on the surface of the virus, into human cells. By infecting cells and instructing them to make large amounts of antigen, which then trigger an immune response, the vaccine mimics what happens during natural infection with certain pathogens - especially viruses.

An example of a viral vector vaccine is the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine against Ebola.

Lastly, researchers in the scamper to find an effective vaccine against COVID explored a novel way of triggering the body’s immune system to respond to a viral threat.

This is through the use of the RNA and DNA vaccines.

The new and cutting-edge approach that uses genetically engineered messenger RNA (mRNA) or DNA to generate a protein that itself safely prompts an immune response, is something that could send its discoverer into the stage for a nobel prize. (rahchiu/PIA-7/Bohol)

SLIGHT SIDE EFFECTS NORMAL. PHO nurse Macchiavelia Caliao, at the Kapihan sa PIA explained that the reaction of the body’s immune system once it identifies the invading virus or bacteria, can be manifested in slight fever, headaches, muscle pains. But these are nothing serious, as the vaccines are designed to be safe, she added. (PIAbohol)

NOT EVERYONE ALIKE. Because vaccines are created using different platforms, there is no such thing as one type of vaccine for the whole nation. An inactivated vaccine may not work well with persons with immune-deficiencies, anaphylaxis have been noted to people getting and mRNA vaccines. These however can be managed in hospital settings. (PIABohol)