Get vaccinated!
IN the past few weeks, the continuing menace of COVID-19 has showed that it still has a hold on the globe and as part of the global community, this island is not immune.
We have to accept that this pandemic will be a part of our lives for the foreseeable future, but its impact and severity is something that we as a country can mitigate.
It is within our power to ensure that our population is vaccinated from the most severe impacts of the disease. Public health officials have stressed since the start of the pandemic that the only way that we can turn the corner on the most deadly disease and global health emergency in a century is with aggressive vaccinations and adherence to protocols.
The vaccinations have been developed at record speed, with the use of an approach which reduces viral loads even if fully vaccinated people get infected. That means that the virus' attack the vital organs and the body's internal defenses will be lessened as the persons vaccinated will be equipped to protect themselves from severe illness and death.
Anyone who has experienced loss of family members and even those who may not have done so at the hands of the COVID-19 pandemic, can speak of the pain which those losses create. I recently lost a Great-aunt, one of the strongest women I know, who faded away in a short space of time, as her strength left (not from COVID-19), but just as an illustration of loss. I lost a grandmother who faded after losing her husband and best friend within months. I lost an aunt and uncle to cancer and another uncle to a severe asthma attack, so I know loss and their voices and presences cannot be replaced.
Pain is not easy. It is the most difficult thing which one can imagine and I kept those feelings inside, thinking that remembering good times from these individuals would suffice. It does not.
Families across this island account for some of the deaths from the disease. It is not a pain which leaves you as you look at empty spaces around tables or at holidays or missing the phone calls from them. It is serious.
That is why the denial of taking responsibility by some vaccine doubters is insulting to me. What sense does it make to claim that you are uneasy about getting vaccinated, when the time you take to decide, the mutations of the disease continue.
The deniers then place public health officials in a difficult place. A tourism destination means that Barbados will constantly have to deal with influxes of tourists and the potential of variants entering the island. The disease has a preferred host and that is the human population.
As our key source markets reopen and flights filled with tourists travel again, then Barbados faces a serious challenge. The balance of tourism and safety can be effectively done if we as a country take this disease seriously. The best defense is to get vaccinated, to ensure that our critical tourism industry is able to restart.
This newspaper has been at the forefront of balancing both sides. Those who support vaccinations and those who are against it have had their voices heard.
The deniers, however, forget the simple things. Simply staying home is not a defense against disease. Every time you leave home, you face the potential of getting infected. Every person who visits your home, or who lives in that home and goes out to return is vulnerable, so acting as though you hide until the disease eases is madness.
You take flu shots, polio vaccinations, anti-histamines for sinuses, yet a COVID-19 vaccine is too far is silly.
That is what your individual health care providers are for. Call them with your concerns and ask they the tough questions and think of getting the shot as a national objective. The more holdouts we have to vaccinations, then spikes and potential lockdowns of the country and economy will continue to happen.
That is the work which at the individual level that the population must do to move forward but they are other layers to this fight against the disease and its grip on our lives.
There remains major concerns over quarantine rules and their enforcement. In late 2020, issues arose, especially on the West Coast, of visitors breaking quarantine rules during their stays. The public perception is that too many instances of visitors 'tekking a chance' and leaving their quarantine locations, which in some cases including hotels and potentially some guest houses or villas and interacting with citizens. We have heard little on this front especially after the events in the last two weeks of 2020, which led to a massive spike in cases and increased restrictions, especially on citizens.
What is the update on the monitoring system? Has it worked to restrict movement of quarantined visitors? We need to hear more to allay the fears of everyone on the process.
We hear about those who break curfew or protocols, but precious little on that other front and that is unfortunate. Has government made progress with dealing with concern on false documents related to PCR tests from arriving persons to the island?
We need to have clarity on protocols. The restriction of numbers led to major problems at some businesses. Long lines at supermarkets defeated the process. Standing in the hot sun and even the rain, then at some places, with temperature checks, after someone spends over an hour in the sun led to temporary temperature spikes.
My question has to do with the rules related to businesses. The protocols speak to hand sanitizing, face masks and social distancing, so where did the temperature checks come in?
First it was on the forehead then it became the neck. What is the accepted rule? Do businesses establish their own standards? If so, that is unacceptable.
The simple fact is that the way out of this challenge depends on a collaborative effort. The public needs to get off their behinds and stop procrastinating and get vaccinated. Encourage your friends, business colleagues, family and anyone you meet to do so. It is very easy to do. Stop reading everything online and just watch newscasts from around the world to see the impacts of this disease.
It is not a joke. More people will die and families will be broken if we continue to deny this reality. If you are not vaccinated, please keep from around me.
Get vaccinated!