Punishing weather patterns unseen for ages in some countries trigger distress and deaths, wildfires rage, devastating floods turn streets into rivers and homes into watery death traps, all happening against the backdrop of other world dramas and a pandemic taking its time to claim as many victims as it can. The environmentalists have warned for decades about mankind’s dance with death by destroying the environment. Deforestation, pollution of the Earth’s lungs–the oceans and watercourses–with industrial poisons contribute to climate warming. Call it the macabre hunger games as greedy players unleash disasters by raping pristine forests, the cradle of viruses. There’s now the call of scientists and governments for mass vaccinations against the virus and its variants. But the lives of all people do not fall into an equal category. Millions can’t get the life-saving jabs, and not all scientifically approved vaccines are accepted by economically prosperous countries. Some are passports to enter regions such as the European Union once the vaccines were produced there. So, don’t think that proof of vaccinations is a pass to enter every country if you weren’t jabbed with a vaccine accepted by the place to which you are visiting. In any event, travellers are required to show evidence of negative COVID tests or recovery from the virus.
Against the backdrop of the deadly pandemic, another debate centres on whether to make vaccination against COVID-19 mandatory. Many say it’s their right not to be vaccinated. Others claim it’s their right not to risk their health by working with unvaccinated employees. And the employers say they have a responsibility to ensure a safe work environment, which they do under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, 2004 (OSHA), and to mitigate people and financial risks.
What does the science say about vaccinations? Vaccines lower the risk of getting the virus and spreading it. Vaccinated healthy people have a significantly lower risk of experiencing complications and being absent from work for a long time or dying. The primary concern of employers is to ensure healthy and safe workplaces, which becomes more challenging than before COVID if their vaccinated employees refuse to work alongside unvaccinated employees, assuming the employers are taking all possible H&S precautions. There are many questions and not so easy answers.
But in today’s troubled yet amazing world, such workplace concerns would have been the last thing on the minds of two billionaires as they rocketed for all of ten minutes to the edge of space. Some say the trips were vainglory exercises and a waste of money in the face of increasing poverty, famine, and the thousands of orphans whose parents’ lives were taken by COVID. I suppose it all depends on one’s outlook on life. If anything, COVID-19 reminds us of our mortality—here today gone tomorrow—so why not live possible dreams. Never mind that cynics brand them “astro-noughts” because they think calling them astronauts would be an insult to the moon landers 52 years ago in 1969. The two outstanding innovators and entrepreneurs of our time, Richard Branson the founder of Virgin Atlantic, and Jeff Bezos the founder of Amazon are already spinning more millions as multi-millionaires make deposits toward their trip to the edge of space.
And so, life continues in its fullness, jabbing back at COVID. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are happening now after the elegant opening ceremony with the signal fireworks, torch lighting, and the parade of nations minus the stadium audience but with a meticulousness that epitomises the Japanese culture. Soaring COVID cases before the opening, angry protesters and many athletes who had their hopes for glory dashed when they contracted the nasty thing didn’t stop the show. In defiance, the games are on, testing the prowess of the best of the best world-class athletes. The television was a satisfactory ringside seat to watch with pleasure our rower, Aisha Chow, kick-starting the T&T campaign as she rowed to the finish line in the single sculls heat, placing fourth. She has another chance. The indomitable spirit of sportspeople always inspires. They certainly help us to see the brighter side of life and to continue to hope for whatever equivalent of Gold we aspire toward.