DOH’s dancing doctor on saving lives while having fun | The Howie Severino Podcast
Dr. Eric Tayag speaks with Howie Severino on the eve of his retirement after 35 years of government service.
He talks about how he started using his zumba moves in health campaigns and the challenge of preventing children’s deaths amid a global vaccine shortage.
Is the pandemic over? When should we still wear masks? Why is there a pertussis outbreak? Why did many believe the anti-vaxxers? Dr. Tayag provides clear answers without having to dance.
He talks about how he started using his zumba moves in health campaigns and the challenge of preventing children’s deaths amid a global vaccine shortage.
Is the pandemic over? When should we still wear masks? Why is there a pertussis outbreak? Why did many believe the anti-vaxxers? Dr. Tayag provides clear answers without having to dance.
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00:00 Good day, Podmates! Howie Severino here again, reminding you that long attention spans are smart.
00:07 Our guest today is a dancing doctor who has a very important role in dancing, Dr. Eric Tayag.
00:17 He has long been the face of government campaigns against deadly diseases.
00:23 Dr. Tayag is retiring this month of April after 35 years of service to the government.
00:29 He is still Department of Health Undersecretary for a few more days.
00:34 Good morning, Dr. Tayag!
00:36 Good morning, Howie! It's a pleasure joining your podcast. I've been dreaming this.
00:42 Yeah, and thank you for giving us this honor of marking your milestone.
00:49 This is also a chance for us to thank you for everything that you've done for the public, for us at GMA Network,
00:56 because you gave us really valuable, maybe life-saving advice at the height of the pandemic.
01:03 But before we go to all of that, because that's really serious,
01:07 you kind of have a reputation for keeping really serious matters light.
01:17 It's not like what we're talking about is scary.
01:21 So icebreaker question first, Doc.
01:23 So as a dancing doctor, what was your go-to song?
01:27 What was the most effective in all of your years of communicating public health through dance?
01:36 Well, I think looking back in 2012, perhaps, Howie, that was during our Iwas Paputok campaign over there at the Avenue Medical Center.
01:50 This all happened by chance. This was not planned.
01:56 So after the campaign we're in, we launched the Iwas Paputok campaign,
02:01 and we had to distribute CDs that contained all the kinds of noise coming out of any firework.
02:11 We were about to leave the hospital, but then someone approached me and invited me and told me that this was actually a Christmas party for children with cancer at the hospital.
02:30 And they were waiting for so long. They just waited for our campaign to end.
02:36 And so they requested me if I can join the children in some dance.
02:42 And so it was Gangnam Style. It was so popular then.
02:48 Yeah, it was popular for a while.
02:51 Yeah, I thought the media was gone.
02:55 Then the next day, I was in the news already.
02:59 "This is the new campaign of the cancer-causing organization, Gangnam Style."
03:04 I was interviewed and I was already laughing that it was our campaign.
03:10 Since then, when we have campaigns like Heart Month, Cancer Month, I will choose a relevant tune for it.
03:20 So any favorites? All of the ones I've set up are my favorites.
03:24 Just recently, when I invite people, they are not shy anymore.
03:30 In their invitation, they'll say, "Usec, please be ready because we're going to request you for a dance."
03:39 And I said, "It's okay."
03:41 Well, your successor will have big dancing shoes to fill, Doc.
03:47 Would you recommend doing that kind of campaign strategy for anyone in your position? Or you're the only one who can do that?
03:58 I don't know. Because when I do that, that was genuine.
04:03 And number two, you really be serious about it.
04:08 And number three, I invite the audience to participate.
04:15 And so, even if I know the dance steps, sometimes I have to modify it so that the audience can feel comfortable.
04:26 And they can actually follow.
04:28 And what helped me here is that I'm enrolled in a fitness gym.
04:37 And I would join these classes and I would get some choreo.
04:45 And on social media, there are a lot of choreos.
04:47 So I would modify some of them that makes it easier.
04:51 It's not an easy job because you have to make sure that the message is there.
05:00 So there's a thin line because you might end up as an entertainer instead of a DOH advocate for the health programs.
05:10 Yeah, I'm going to ask you about that, how effective you are.
05:13 But first, you said you joined a fitness program or club.
05:19 You were doing Zumba, right?
05:21 And that was a good training or preparation for that kind of public health campaign style.
05:28 I never thought it would give me that result.
05:35 Because I joined the fitness club around 8 years even before I had my advocacy with this dancing style.
05:48 Championing the health programs of the Department of Health.
05:54 So it was not planned that way.
05:57 It was by accident.
05:59 I think it started as an amusement, even for myself.
06:04 And the public.
06:06 And then suddenly it was becoming serious.
06:10 And we were getting feedback that it was a different way of giving the messages out there.
06:19 And the public understood why I was dancing.
06:24 It was not for entertainment.
06:27 It was not for Zumba itself.
06:30 But there was a message.
06:32 Yeah, well understood.
06:34 Because of course as a public health expert and you're trained as an epidemiologist, I know you're also an expert on infectious diseases.
06:41 You're really mainly concerned with outcomes.
06:45 I mean you want an outcome from whatever you do.
06:49 So how do you measure the outcome from a public health strategy like this?
06:55 I'm sure many doctors are also learning from you all over the country in their own locations.
07:03 That's why I'm asking if you can recommend this.
07:06 So are you able to measure the outcome?
07:09 Do you do some kind of survey of people in your audience, of those who are dancing in your events?
07:18 To see whether the actual public health messages sank in?
07:23 I mean having fun and being entertained of course is a worthy goal.
07:28 But you're a doctor.
07:30 I mean you work to save lives.
07:33 Are you sure that what you're doing has an effect?
07:37 Okay.
07:38 My barometer is when I'm in the public's eye and the setting for that,
07:46 I would hear people point to me and they shout, "Oh, it's DOH."
07:52 So it's not my name.
07:54 It's the DOH.
07:56 So that means quite a lot to me because that speaks a lot.
08:02 When they see me, they see the DOH programs.
08:06 And so I'm fine with that.
08:08 So it's not anymore, "I see Dr. Tayag" or "Usec Tayag."
08:14 Or that's DOH.
08:15 So my name has been a catch name for DOH.
08:21 So that was a good sign.
08:23 And so I thought that I was not making this to make sure I become popular as Dr. Tayag
08:35 but because I am championing the health programs of the Department of Health.
08:41 That's an important thing because it's easy to misinterpret.
08:47 "Oh, this is being planned."
08:52 You know, when the public is interested, it gives meaning.
09:01 But not because my baristas say, "Oh, it's DOH."
09:06 To say that it's DOH, they got the message when they saw me.
09:13 That's why I have meetings where I am invited.
09:18 But I'm also afraid that my colleagues might think that I'm only good at dancing.
09:28 So I made sure that when it comes to the policies, the things to do in the Department of Health,
09:39 I made sure that it's top-notch.
09:42 There's nothing that can be taken for granted in what I do.
09:50 It's not that they'll say, "Oh, he didn't do anything but he danced."
09:54 It's not like that, Howie.
09:56 Yeah, okay.
09:58 I want to go back to the outcomes because someone like you, a trained epidemiologist,
10:05 looks at mortality, morbidity, those kinds of statistics as desirable outcomes.
10:13 But you mentioned the "Iwas Paputok" campaign, which is one of the more recent ones.
10:20 I'm old enough to remember a time when, weeks before the new year,
10:26 sometimes even in November, you can hear the fireworks.
10:30 And of course, when the week of Christmas comes, and then leading up to the new year,
10:37 and even days after the new year, a lot of neighborhoods around the country,
10:40 there are a lot of fireworks, and the fireworks are very powerful.
10:44 When I became a newspaper reporter back in the '80s,
10:49 I remember doing a story about children in the orthopedic hospital.
10:56 The children's ward there was full around the time of New Year's Day
11:04 because a lot of children lost their fingers.
11:09 Fast forward, these days, you still hear firecrackers,
11:14 but certainly not in the weeks before Christmas or New Year's.
11:21 And it's like it's being limited to New Year's Eve and nothing like what we were experiencing before.
11:29 That is a clear indicator to me of an improvement in public health messaging,
11:36 public health indicators, because you can hear it.
11:40 And I guess if you hear less firecrackers, most likely there are fewer injuries.
11:47 But is that your impression?
11:51 Here in Iwas, there are still firecrackers.
11:53 You know, when I started to become an epidemiologist training here in the Department of Health,
12:01 and the field epidemiology training program,
12:04 that is the equivalent of the Epidemic Intelligence Service Program of the U.S. Centers for Disease Prevention and Control.
12:12 So they call it when you go to America or the United States, the field epidemiology training program.
12:20 I was with the 4th batch in 1992, the time of Secretary Juan Flavier.
12:29 He was the secretary then.
12:31 Now, what we talked about by my mentors, Dr. Mark White and Dr. Manuel Dayrit,
12:43 Director of the Department of Health, is what I learned from them.
12:49 How can you even solve a problem if you're not naming what the problem is?
12:55 So what we did was we started surveillance in just three hospitals of my colleagues.
13:03 We counted how many injuries there were.
13:06 We did that every year.
13:09 And what happened was, we used that data to have a law against fireworks.
13:18 That was a milestone for the police because it's true that if you have data and you use it in decisions like the police,
13:30 but it became a law.
13:32 The fireworks became the result of why many of the victims lost their numbers.
13:46 I say that because the difference between epidemiologists and public health is what we ask, why did that happen?
13:56 So there we learned that it happened because the children who were victims did not have supervision.
14:07 Second, it happened because there were illegal fireworks.
14:11 Third, it happened because there were wrong uses of fireworks.
14:18 So this is a milestone and then we come up with policies and that became a law.
14:24 You can see that there are a list of illegal fireworks and a list of fireworks that can be used.
14:33 So that's where it started.
14:35 So in all things, we can say that's where transparency starts.
14:43 Name the problem so you can solve the problem.
14:47 If you hide it, that's where we will have problems.
14:52 You hide it from any reason, maybe you don't want to be embarrassed or you're afraid that you might be seen.
15:02 But it's not like that because just like recently, there was a pertussis outbreak in Quezon City,
15:11 if I have to digress a little bit, Mayor Joy Belmonte announced that there was a pertussis outbreak.
15:20 If it's different, maybe he won't announce it because it's a vaccine.
15:28 I mean, you're not getting vaccinated in Quezon City, what happened?
15:32 But just like what our colleagues did, they really announced it so that everyone will know what to do.
15:47 And now it's in the communication.
15:53 I had training while I was at Emory University in the United States.
16:05 There, they taught me what they call the Single Overriding Communication Objective.
16:12 It means that when you face the media or the public, the most important message there is that they know what to do.
16:23 It's also important to tell them what the disease is but it's important to tell everyone what we should do and we can hear and see you.
16:38 It's important because to the viewers, we can get a lot of information but what's important to me is what I should do now that we have that.
16:51 Okay Doc, let's go back to the pertussis because that's the current topic in public health.
16:58 You mentioned that Mayor Joy Belmonte of Quezon City announced it strongly.
17:07 When someone announces such situations, it has an effect economically, politically, etc.
17:18 But you're saying that in the field of public health, it's important to talk and communicate so people know what to do.
17:28 So just in a nutshell, what is the situation of pertussis in Quezon City? Can we call it an outbreak, epidemic, is it a crisis? What is it?
17:39 It's an outbreak but Quezon City did not declare a state of calamity.
17:46 It's an outbreak because they have an epidemiologist who has seen the number of cases increase in several barangays and there are dead people.
18:02 So it really struck them that they need to be alert in many places in Quezon City. Now that they looked at the record, their vaccine coverage is high in Pentavailand 5 in 1 in 2023.
18:21 So the question is what happened? So that's where the question of why did it happen and what happened will come in.
18:30 There are parents who may not be able to vaccinate their baby because in the 5 in 1 vaccine, as early as six weeks, the baby should be given and three injections should be completed before we can say that it completed the primary series.
18:51 That 5 in 1 is called contra diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B, and haemophilus influenzae B.
19:01 Now, in many places, because Quezon City is big, there are packet of areas where even though the overall number of cases is high, there are places that are lagging in vaccine coverage and UNICEF is already reporting that.
19:22 Did you know that between 2019 and 2022, during this pandemic, 48 million children around the world did not receive a single vaccine in their countries?
19:40 In our country, UNICEF is reporting 1 million because if it's just a few, two vaccines should be received immediately, BCG and hepatitis B.
19:55 Then at six weeks, you have oral polio vaccine, the PATAQ, where three injections should be completed and Pentavailand.
20:05 The delivery is at six weeks.
20:08 But we were careful in announcing because we will say that we will get vaccinated but there are almost no vaccines.
20:20 That's why we said that there are no vaccines because we might say that we will get vaccinated and people will go to the health center but there are no vaccines.
20:33 So what the health center will do is, in announcing that we will get vaccinated if there are still vaccines, we also gave the notice that they are buying additional vaccines.
20:51 So if the public knows this information, what will we do?
20:58 There are no vaccines so we will all get sick.
21:02 So that's where we are getting the message that you should protect your baby, small children can be infected immediately.
21:14 That's our data.
21:16 Wearing a mask will help a lot because this is the way we can be infected with pertussis or tuspirina.
21:27 So that's what we did and we added that message.
21:34 Because pertussis and tuspirina are from the same bacteria, the Bordetella pertussis, there are antibiotics that can be used.
21:45 It's not like other viruses where we don't have antibiotics.
21:50 So it's clear to the mothers that the baby needs to be vaccinated and their question is how will they know if there is pertussis and not a vaccine?
22:02 We also told them the symptoms.
22:04 You can be suspicious if there is a slight hiccup, the mouth is getting irritated, the breathing suddenly stops, it's likely that it's not tuspirina.
22:15 The baby is getting sick, he is getting sick, and for us, it's getting worse, it's getting worse, it's getting worse.
22:25 So those information have implications.
22:28 What should we do?
22:30 Vaccine, wear a mask, look at yourself, and drink medicine.
22:35 So doc, the vaccine was not available, you said you will buy more, in the meantime, there was a pertussis outbreak.
22:47 So doc, was the DOH not planning the need?
22:54 We pre-projected the need but we want to explain and our colleagues explained that there are procurement issues.
23:10 For example, there was a bid failure, so it's going back and there will be a new date for procurement.
23:21 It's already in the process and that's why when we bought the vaccine, we only bought it from UNICEF, we also bought it from a local.
23:34 This is the story Harvey, there is a big shortage of pentavalent of 5+1.
23:42 So that means many countries are having a hard time getting 5+1.
23:49 So what we did, because we know that, we asked the Serum Institute of India
23:58 so that the vaccine we ordered will not be given to others and will be only for the Philippines.
24:08 Okay doc, we know that historically in the last few decades, our immunization rate has increased.
24:17 It's been fairly high and then the news went down and we also know that our vaccines were covered in controversy
24:31 and then COVID got worse because there was an anti-vax movement.
24:37 Even some doctors were saying that anti-COVID vaccines could actually do more harm than good.
24:45 And then because of that, there were many fears in vaccines in general.
24:51 Not only did we have the Pertussis outbreak, but we also had the measles outbreak
24:57 because measles is also preventable through immunization.
25:01 So tell us about this vaccine crisis. Is it still ongoing? Has it posed new challenges?
25:11 Not just in terms of procurement, but there's a communications issue now, there's an awareness issue,
25:17 there's even maybe a disinformation issue when it comes to vaccines.
25:23 That's right. The message there is vaccination saves lives and that's what will make us healthier.
25:33 I have champions with me in vaccinating, especially now that from April 24 to April 30,
25:43 we will have World Immunization Week.
25:47 There was a time, the golden era of vaccination where during the time of Secretary Juan Flavier,
25:56 we were really off-line and we were successful in becoming polio-free in 2000 when we were declared.
26:07 Until now, we are polio-free.
26:09 We also set a goal to eliminate measles.
26:13 In fact, there was one or two years where there was almost no report of measles.
26:21 But as time went by, we lost our advantage.
26:28 There are many reasons because our population is growing.
26:36 We need to reach out to know the importance of vaccines.
26:47 We have many geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas and we have many local issues
26:59 where they may have forgotten the importance of vaccination.
27:05 So over the years, this is becoming more obvious.
27:08 For everyone's understanding, even if we have a vaccine, the vaccine itself will not save lives.
27:17 Vaccines will not save lives.
27:19 It's vaccination that will save lives.
27:22 The vaccines you see are not enough because who will get vaccinated?
27:28 Where will they be placed?
27:30 Because you know, these vaccines can be destroyed and cannot be placed on the table.
27:37 Second, you need to make sure that the mothers are going to the health center.
27:47 They will bring the children to the right schedule.
27:52 So in the meantime, the vaccine coverage is decreasing.
27:58 But many are saying, Havik, that what we report in the public sector
28:05 and in the private sector, we do not get the data.
28:09 But the proof that it is really decreasing is that we are reporting outbreaks.
28:17 So if the vaccine coverage is high, there should be no reports of outbreaks.
28:25 Because there are, it is really decreasing.
28:28 And you said earlier that during the pandemic, the vaccination was put on trial.
28:35 And there were controversies before the pandemic.
28:39 So this, Havik, has something to do with vaccine confidence.
28:43 And that is what we are doing as a solution.
28:50 And one of them is how to restore the trust and confidence of mothers in vaccines, especially those who are anti-vaxxers.
29:04 We're calling a spade a spade.
29:06 So we are coalitioning with the champions, the Vaccine Solidarity,
29:14 so that we can fight against those who give misinformation.
29:20 It's really a challenge.
29:22 We cannot remain silent because many children's futures are at stake.
29:30 Okay, Doc. In the first year of the vaccine against COVID-19, 2022, is that right? Or 2021?
29:43 2019, December when it was first issued in China,
29:48 2020 when the Public Health Emergency of International Concern of the World Health Organization was declared
29:55 and that year it was reported that it was a pandemic.
30:00 And in 2021, that's when the vaccines we used and the different types of vaccines were used by our fellow countrymen.
30:17 Okay, Doc. In 2021, the vaccination started on a wide scale worldwide.
30:24 But if we recall, in the Philippines, we were caught because of some various reasons that we were not able to procure immediately.
30:33 That became a controversy.
30:35 But what I want to ask you about is that in the first year of vaccination,
30:40 that's when the anti-vaxxers were released.
30:44 In fact, some people say that those who died were the ones who were vaccinated against COVID-19.
30:52 And I personally know people who did not get vaccinated, even in my own family and people I meet.
31:02 So it's actually a very sensitive topic.
31:05 If you start bashing anti-vaxxers, you don't know who's listening to you.
31:11 And it's anti-vaxxers.
31:13 So now it's 2024, Doc. Have these naysayers, these anti-vaxxers, been proven wrong?
31:23 Javi, you know, the reason why anti-vaxxers are being blamed is because they know that it takes 10 to 20 years for us to get a new vaccine.
31:42 It takes a long time because it really goes through different phases or the clinical phase of vaccine trials before it is approved.
31:56 It's true that the vaccines we are using now, the time and resources spent on it are really big.
32:05 But this one, it just came out, less than a year, and we already have a vaccine.
32:11 Then there are new terms, emergency use authorization.
32:17 So their interpretation is that we are all in a pinch.
32:21 It means that it's already used and while it's being used, we will just monitor the side effects.
32:32 It's being reported that there is myocarditis, Guillain-Barre syndrome.
32:38 Now here in our country, we made sure that it is being reported.
32:45 There are panels that are looking at whether it is from the vaccine or others can explain why it happened.
32:55 Now to your question if the vaccine helped or not.
32:58 No question, it helped because it slowed the pandemic.
33:04 Anyway, many people say that it has a bad effect but that's the information we will get.
33:17 Wherever you go, the vaccine helped.
33:21 The battle here in COVID is not how many people are vaccinated but how fast we are vaccinated.
33:35 The World Health Organization announced that in 2022, 70% of the people should be vaccinated.
33:47 We did not achieve that immediately. It will take several months after before we reach 70% of our target.
33:58 What happened to us, we should be thankful for our safety because not only one type of vaccine was used,
34:08 the number of vaccines that were administered to our country did not go below 8.
34:14 There are also boosters.
34:17 We are not vaccinating because we cannot buy even though there are new vaccines coming out.
34:26 And now we know that there is a combination, COVID with the flu vaccine.
34:33 Remember, vaccines are important.
34:37 We should understand that the vaccines used, especially the mRNA vaccine,
34:44 are slowly being discovered to have symptoms or symptoms that are proven.
34:57 We should be careful and no one is washing their hands because the debate about that is still open.
35:10 The way to resolve that is to investigate what we can say is scientific and what was done was independent from those who made the vaccines.
35:28 It was released and it was unified. That's what happened.
35:37 For example, the World Health Organization and others like the Centers for Disease Control and others will be honest about the vaccines.
35:51 As an epidemiologist, I will say where the data will say if the vaccines are effective or not and should not be used.
36:07 But let's remember that in those times, we don't have a fight.
36:13 First of all, who wants to be hospitalized? You will wait for a long time and you will be able to breathe.
36:23 So when the vaccines arrived, our hearts got stronger.
36:29 Remember, during the pandemic, not only our health was affected but also our livelihood.
36:38 A lot of things changed in our lives and we should remember that the vaccines helped because our movement increased.
36:51 We became confident that we can return to what we were doing before.
36:58 So that's it, we're almost back to normal. We're free to travel, move around, have parties, etc.
37:05 But Doc, as a public health expert, is there still a danger?
37:10 Because the virus is not gone. I know that there are a few people who are sick and dying but the virus is still there.
37:18 So what's the danger now to the public? Is there still a danger?
37:21 Harvey, I just want to clarify that we still have a pandemic of COVID-19. It's not over yet.
37:32 For everyone's information, we still have the HIV pandemic, we still have the cholera pandemic.
37:41 If that is not reported, it does not mean that the pandemic is over.
37:50 The truth is, in the pandemic treaty or whatever it is, that will be discussed when the World Health Assembly arrives.
38:02 One of the questions is, what does pandemic mean? When will we say there's a pandemic? When will we say the pandemic is over?
38:14 For now, in our country, we report 25 cases a day. So that means we have almost no cases of COVID-19.
38:27 We are also looking at hospitals that are closing down their ICUs if we have a lot of severe COVID-19.
38:38 So we are looking at hospitals that are closing down their ICUs.
38:45 So we are looking at hospitals that are closing down their ICUs.
38:50 So we are looking at hospitals that are closing down their ICUs.
38:53 So we are looking at hospitals that are closing down their ICUs.
38:58 So we are looking at hospitals that are closing down their ICUs.
39:08 So we are looking at hospitals that are closing down their ICUs.
39:13 So we are looking at hospitals that are closing down their ICUs.
39:18 So we are looking at hospitals that are closing down their ICUs.
39:28 So we are looking at hospitals that are closing down their ICUs.
39:33 So we are looking at hospitals that are closing down their ICUs.
39:38 So we are looking at hospitals that are closing down their ICUs.
39:48 So we are looking at hospitals that are closing down their ICUs.
39:53 So we are looking at hospitals that are closing down their ICUs.
39:58 So we are looking at hospitals that are closing down their ICUs.
40:03 I am one of those who still wear a mask when riding an elevator, when in an airplane, etc.
40:11 But people like me are becoming rare.
40:14 In fact, one of my worries, for example, when I'm in an elevator,
40:19 someone is sitting there without a mask.
40:22 I would like to say, "I'm the only one wearing a mask."
40:26 So it looks like I'm pretending or I might be gossiping.
40:30 "Howie Zevrino is being paranoid," etc.
40:35 But listening to you now, with the hospitalization decreasing,
40:40 it looks like there's no longer much danger.
40:43 So am I being overly cautious by being the only one sometimes wearing a mask inside an elevator or in an airplane?
40:54 Just the other day, there were only a few people wearing masks.
41:01 Before, it was required.
41:03 Even the cabin attendants were wearing masks.
41:05 You couldn't see the faces of people.
41:07 Now, there are almost none.
41:08 So what is your advice, Doc, to those listening now?
41:12 Let's change our mindset, Howie.
41:15 Because people think that if you wear a mask, you won't get infected.
41:25 Let's change that mindset.
41:28 Let's wear a mask because we might get infected.
41:32 So that means it will come from us.
41:35 For example, you have a small mouth, or you feel like you have a small head,
41:41 you still want to go out, wouldn't it be better to wear a mask?
41:46 You won't go out and you'll say that you need to wear a mask to avoid getting infected.
41:53 Although, that's also the effect.
41:56 But the decision to wear a mask, think about it, will I get infected when I go out?
42:05 If the answer is yes, then wear a mask.
42:10 You don't need to be convinced anymore.
42:14 Or you don't have a mask to buy, you don't have a mask at home,
42:22 so you won't wear a mask.
42:24 Now, if you really don't have a mask,
42:27 when you go out, wear one so that others won't get infected.
42:34 But COVID-19 doesn't mean that you can transmit it to others.
42:40 It can be an influenza, or any other pathogen.
42:45 It's been many months since most of us have had the last anti-COVID booster vaccine.
42:55 Do we still need to get vaccinated against COVID?
43:02 And if it's better to be vaccinated again,
43:09 is there still a supply of vaccine?
43:13 Because you said that in other diseases, vaccines are running out.
43:16 For COVID, are there still vaccines left?
43:19 And would you recommend another booster for those who have comorbidities or senior citizens?
43:27 First of all, the recommendation now is that we should use new vaccines for the new strains that are circulating
43:39 where we may not have protection again.
43:43 Second, it has been reported that our vaccines will lose their visa for a long time.
43:53 Our antibody levels will also drop.
43:58 Third, we don't have vaccines in our country anymore and we don't have laws that will give us permission to buy these kinds of vaccines.
44:13 Fourth, if new vaccines are to be introduced, they should apply for the Food and Drug Administration and we will buy them with prescription.
44:27 We will not be able to buy them with prescription and we will not be able to give them for free.
44:35 That's why we are monitoring if it will suddenly increase again.
44:43 In the last page of our Department of Health,
44:48 the new variants of interest and variants of concern will not be picked up by the Philippine Genome Center.
45:00 This means that the transmission of this will be slow and will not happen.
45:10 However, we don't want to give such a conclusion because the number of people who are still getting tested is low.
45:19 In fact, we have many people who are still being tested for COVID-19 but almost none are getting tested.
45:25 There is self-testing and you can buy it even if you go to the airport, there is a vending machine there.
45:33 If you want to get tested, you can get it and you will do the test yourself.
45:39 For us, if it's positive, we hope that you will report it to us so we know what's happening.
45:49 Because the number of people who are still getting tested is low, we may not be able to report it to you.
45:56 Our surrogate indicator is if the hospitals are full because in the hospitals, we are checking and confirming.
46:06 So that's our situation now.
46:08 The number of COVID-19 cases is low but we continue to monitor because we don't want to be in a hurry for a day and there is a new variant and we don't have a vaccine.
46:23 Or even if we don't have a vaccine, we will get infected quickly and many will be hospitalized.
46:30 We are monitoring you.
46:32 We've also talked about walking pneumonia. Let's focus on that for a minute or two.
46:38 What is walking pneumonia and how contagious is it?
46:43 You know, it has been discussed because the Chinese country reported that many children there have high cases.
46:55 One of the pathogens or microbial that they confirmed is mycoplasma pneumonia.
47:03 This is walking pneumonia.
47:05 It is called walking pneumonia because even if you have an X-ray, you can see that you have pneumonia.
47:12 It's like you're feeling okay, you're not hospitalized right away, you can still do your work, you can still go to school.
47:24 But because you're infected, you will wear a mask, you will take the antibiotic that you need to take and complete it.
47:34 This was discussed because someone is dying and here in Aten, for quite some time, there was a scare that if someone gets infected,
47:52 our heads will be cut off from the infection.
47:57 So we thought it might be walking pneumonia. What they understood was that it's a walking pneumonia.
48:04 We all get infected.
48:06 What walking pneumonia means is that you have pneumonia but you can still go out of the house, you are not the type to be hospitalized.
48:18 We released a report that we are reporting it because some people thought we don't have walking pneumonia.
48:26 But not many countries are reporting it.
48:30 If you notice, it suddenly disappeared from the news because there are almost no cases.
48:36 What you can do is if you feel nauseous, cough, wear a mask.
48:44 Some people gargle, even if it's just water and salt or any solution that you gargle in the morning,
48:54 it's a big help because you are cleaning your throat and mouth so that you won't get infected and you can feel better.
49:08 So what we are saying here is let's not forget and to be careful,
49:17 the measures we took are just sudden and we can forget.
49:23 I am promising you because you are one of those who still wear a mask.
49:34 You can call your fellow citizens in the elevator if you have a cough.
49:40 And Javi, even if I'm talking to you now, this is a proof that I have a mask because we can't not be prepared.
49:53 Because later when you go out of the house and you notice that you have a cough, you should wear a mask.
50:01 So that your fellow citizens won't be infected.
50:08 Especially with my stature, they might be afraid that I'm a doctor and they might think that I'm wearing a mask.
50:16 So I should be the one who wears a mask.
50:21 But in America, it became a big topic because when you wear a mask, you get sick.
50:30 When you go out of the house, now what the Centers for Disease Control did just two months ago,
50:39 you don't need to isolate yourself if you have COVID.
50:42 As long as you have a cough, you should wear a mask.
50:46 That's how it became.
50:48 As long as you have a cough, you should wear a mask.
50:52 It's automatic.
50:54 So it means that wearing a mask is part of our life.
51:00 Yeah, Doc. The problem in America is that people politicize wearing a mask.
51:04 It became a partisan act.
51:07 I just want to ask you about being a public health doctor because you mentioned that.
51:13 You also mentioned being an epidemiologist.
51:17 You went through training in the Department of Health.
51:20 Maybe our listeners are wondering what is the difference between a public health doctor and the private practitioner,
51:31 private doctor or clinical doctor.
51:34 Maybe there are young people who are thinking of becoming doctors.
51:37 How does what you do differ from the kind of doctor most of us are familiar with?
51:45 You go to a clinic, your heart is being examined, and then they prescribe drugs to you.
51:50 You don't do those things.
51:52 I'm sure you're trained to do that as well.
51:54 Tell us what you do, Doc, in terms of being a public health doctor versus a private or a clinical doctor.
52:04 I will tell you a story.
52:07 One day, two friends of mine were walking in the town, which means by the sea.
52:17 They were talking and they were surprised because they heard someone shouting in the sea
52:26 that they heard a man screaming and many people were drowning.
52:31 So what the two of them did, since there were no other people in the area where they were walking,
52:38 they jumped into the water and brought all the people they could save to the shore.
52:48 But the doctor was surprised because he was left by a doctor.
52:55 He said, "Why are you leaving me? We have a lot of patients here, some are young and some are old.
53:02 I will leave you here because I will go to the first ward so I can know why this is happening.
53:11 Why? What is happening?
53:13 And here, we are just in the middle of the ward and we don't know what is happening there.
53:20 That's the difference.
53:22 So if someone is sick, they are being treated but the question is, why are there so many people who are sick?
53:28 Is there an illness? Is the medicine we are using wrong?
53:34 Is there an outbreak?
53:36 That is the difference of a public health or clinical care where if someone is sick, they are being treated
53:47 but we are asking why? Can we stop it if there are so many people?
53:54 What can we do to prevent it from happening?
53:58 So like that doctor, they cannot be saved from drowning.
54:03 We need to know how to stop it so that no one will drown.
54:09 So that is the difference, Harry.
54:11 Okay Doc, you are retiring after 35 years in public health and government service on April 15.
54:21 What's next?
54:23 We will take a break first just like anyone who will retire but I'm not out of circulation like now.
54:32 Next week is the day of the wedding. I'm with Howie and I will give you a clear message.
54:41 Not only about my dancing, not only about pertussis, about vaccination and COVID.
54:49 There are many topics. Wait for it. I might be invited by Howie again.
54:53 We will talk about other things because you know that if Howie gave you information,
55:01 you will never forget your contribution to this program.
55:07 The truth is, since I'm also a rotary, my attention will be focused on the projects that our club is doing.
55:19 Remember, the polio elimination eradication started with Rotary International and it will still be vaccinated.
55:30 Secondly, many are asking me to start a vlog.
55:37 Oh no, because of your experience here, why not?
55:42 But for now, I have a lot of books that I need to finish reading and I have a lot of advocacy.
55:55 So in the first place, we are dancing again and I want to thank GMA7 for giving me a little bit of pride.
56:08 And now, double pride. Thank you very much Howie.
56:13 I hope that I will continue to give the right information and the right message about what our countrymen should do
56:24 every day in the coming years. Let's still think about our health above all.
56:32 We are the ones who should thank you, Dr. Tayag, the owner of our podcast team.
56:40 We're very grateful for your service. The nation is grateful for your service.
56:44 Long live to you and thank you very much.
56:48 Dr. Eric Tayag, the dancing doctor and the retiring Undersecretary of Health and longtime spokesperson of the Department of Health.
56:56 Thank you very much.
56:58 Thank you very much, Howie.
57:00 Hi, I'm Howie Severino. Check out the Howie Severino Podcast.
57:04 New episodes will stream every Thursday. Listen for free on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and other platforms.
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