Unity crucial

Countries across the world have to unite, if we are to win the battle against the COVID-19 virus.

That was the message yesterday from Senator Reverend Dr. John Rogers, Rector of the St. George Parish Church, as he delivered the sermon yesterday morning to mark United Nations Day and the global organisation’s 76th anniversary.

Moreover, Reverend Rogers insisted that there is a need for equitable distribution of vaccines across the world, as he pointed out that the most vulnerable countries are having difficulty procuring vaccines, and therefore they face even greater difficulty in getting the potentially fatal virus under control.

Rogers’ comments came as he said that the situation is one which some will seek to “exploit”, through the sale of counterfeit drugs or even the sale of vaccines at higher prices, as countries seek to secure vaccines for their people.

“That is what happens on the black market, that is what happens when nations find themselves stranded out there,” he said.

Contending that there is a need to unite, he said that the world celebrates the 76th anniversary of the United Nations at a time when we are again “at war” and being called to exist as united nations.

“We’re not at war with each other as was the case in 1945, we’re at war against a virus. A virus that threatens to decimate populations in this world; a virus that threatens to burn through humanity, devouring the most vulnerable amongst us; and perhaps more than ever, we are being called to recognise the value of each other. We are being called to recognise the need to pull together as nations in this world, to work together to fight this common enemy,” he said.

Rogers added, “If we’ve learned nothing from the last year and a half, we must learn how interconnected this world is now – that nothing just happens in isolation, that nothing is ever kept in isolation.”

Speaking more on vaccine inequity, he lamented that the developed countries seem to be looking out for themselves, while the developing countries are being left by the wayside.

“In the so-called developed world, vaccines are being rolled out and they are vaccinating their nations, but it has now been said that the poorer nations of this world will not become vaccinated until about 2023. Do you understand what that means? This virus that we’re fighting is no respecter of nations, is no respecter of how much money you have in your bank, or how high your GDP may be, or how low it may be. This virus attacks humanity and until we work together as human beings in this world, we will not conquer it,” he contended.

Urging the developed countries to be mindful that they do not exist in this world alone, the Anglican cleric warned that the longer it takes for vaccines to reach the poorer nations of the world, the more time the virus has to mutate and spread. In that vein, he cautioned also that the continued spread of the virus will impact the world’s ability to excel.

“This is not 1918 anymore, where many people are not travelling. This is 2021. The virus is just one flight away, just a few hours, and the whole world can be touched. Now more than ever, that call and that principle upon which the United Nations was founded, must be embraced by the nations of this world, and recognise that we must set aside our ideological differences, we must set aside our prejudices, we must set aside that notion of first world, third world... Until we can set those things aside and recognise that we are all equal as human beings in this world, we will not conquer this virus,” he maintained. (JRT)