PBA & COVID-19: President Duterte's announcement of a vaccine by December is false hope for the PBA

The prospect of a return for the Philippine Basketball Association is becoming more realistic as the Joint Administrative Order (JAO) of Department of Health, Games and Amusements Board and Philippine Sports Commission, insinuated the possibility of allowing team sports in a low-risk area. 

Currently, the lowest level of quarantine is Modified General Community Quarantine and NCR is only a level away from that. 

Unfortunately for us fans, the JAO is clear that we are not allowed during games until a vaccine is created for COVID-19.

So, the PBA through commissioner Willie Marcial got additional confidence when president Rodrigo Duterte said in his pronouncement last Friday that a vaccine could be available by Friday.

If you are one of those who are delighted about that pronouncement like Mr. Marcial, you better hold your hopes.

Even if a vaccine will be available by December to the Philippines, it doesn't guarantee that they will produced enough for our country, right away.

Actually, the more dreadful reality is the opinion of a lot of medical and virus experts that a vaccine may not be available until next year.

A vaccine is hard to be approved because of a lot of risks that it contains. That is the reason for the long process of approval. Almost all the rush vaccines that are being tested now have bypassed one or two steps.

In short, a rushed vaccine may turn out to be riskier than simply getting the Coronavirus.