The Sunday Mail
The current lull in coronavirus infections and deaths is a good thing — for now — but, as we have seen in the recent past, it might as well be a lull before a storm.
While the second wave of the pandemic experienced between December 2020 and January 2021 was bad, the third wave, which coincided with winter but now seems to be receding, was particularly brutal. It has been a tough three months and we have lost far too many precious lives.
From June 19 — when fatalities during the third wave first hit double digits — to Friday (September 17), we lost nearly 2 896 loved ones, which is heart-wrenching.
Clearly, the third wave has been grim, painful and drawn-out. But, slowly, life seems to be returning to a semblance of normalcy again.
Business activity is slowly picking up and people are out and about.
Unfortunately, therein lies the challenge.
We all know that the virus does not have legs but uses people as vehicles through which it spreads, survives and thrives. As people move, so too does the virus.
We, however, also know from science that vaccines are significantly helpful. In other parts of the world, people are reclaiming their lives and freedoms.
And considering the incredible progress we have made as a country in terms of vaccine acquisition and administration, we, too, should have been well on our way to reclaiming our lives.
At a time when there is a worldwide scramble for hard-to-come-by life-saving vaccines, we presently have in our stores more than 11,8 million vaccine doses — enough to inoculate close to six million people, which could make a world of difference.
Although we have done relatively well, as we had fully vaccinated 2,03 million people by Friday and given nearly three million people the first jab, we are still no way near our potential.
It might be worth noting that on August 17, we managed to jab 105 000 people — a daily record high, with 53 978 getting the first jab, while 50 996 people got their second dose.
The momentum has sadly been lost.
Only 22 336 turned up for first dose on Friday, while 30 844 completed their doses.
So, as we have seen before, ratcheting up the vaccination rates is quite doable — and we must do it! Also, as we have seen before, people have a tendency to desperately seek vaccines at times when the virus is at its most lethal.
The most worrying thing about the current pandemic is that it is novel.
Scientists are grappling to understand new variants as they emerge.
US professor of public health Ron Waldman, who has spent the past 15 years working on vaccine preparedness, could not have put any better when he described the predicament humanity presently finds itself in.
“As this pandemic evolves, we are kind of building the plane as it is flying. It something that we ought to be avoiding. We should have our plane ready to go. And when it’s wheels up, the plan should be in place. The pilot should know what they are doing. There should be protocols. There should be checklists.”
As things stand, as the virus evolves, we do not have that luxury.
For all we know, we face the spectre of a fourth wave of the pandemic, which might possibly be more brutal than the one before it.
Whether we like it or not, we are all still in the throes of an existential war against a cunning, invisible enemy.
Our options are stark — we have to fight it or die!
But there are those among us who do not have that option.
Our healthcare workers are giving it their all so that we survive.
Last week, President Mnangagwa led the nation in paying its respects to the brave frontline workers who lost their lives to the disease.
Even against extraordinary odds, they still turn up to give us a fighting chance.
In addition to giving them the honour that is due to them, we should also give them a break.
But we also have to be realistic: We will always have some among us who do not want to get vaccinated before they do not feel like it. If only they were a danger to themselves, but they are unquestionably a danger to society as well.
We must invest every effort possible to coax them to get vaccinated.
We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to our loved ones, we owe to our nation, we owe it to the world, and, most importantly, we owe it to posterity take back our lives.
