As the country climbs quickly to 3,200 COVID-19 deaths, health officials yesterday provided data to prove it is mostly the unvaccinated dying in T&T, as it is across the globe.
Ministry of Health Epidemiology Division Technical Director Dr Avery Hinds announced that 2,300-2,400 lives could have been saved had people got vaccinated. Dr Hinds said the data showed there is a 93 per cent reduction in risk of death for those who were fully vaccinated in comparison to a death rate amongst the unvaccinated that was 15.6 per cent times higher than the vaccinated.
There remains no real explanation over why there is growing push back against the vaccine. T&T has been stuck at a 48.5 per cent vaccination rate for some time now, with no indication as to when those who are hesitant or sceptical will choose to get inoculated. Yes, some of those who have died have been vaccinated; no one is saying the vaccine offers any guarantee, but it still offers a fighting chance.
Coupled with this, we are now at a point where rivers and beaches have been reopened. One can only hope those anxious to return to such activity, after months of denial, will now proceed with caution and not find loopholes to encourage gatherings at these sites, opening the door to a far swifter spread of the virus.
On that note, on Sunday there was a protest at the Queen’s Park Savannah by citizens concerned about Government’s handling of the pandemic and the Prime Minister’s vaccination plan for public servants. The police eventually used tear gas to disperse the crowd, which included children. Luckily, no one was seriously hurt in the melee caused by the deployment. Why, amid a COVID battle, however, would police use tear gas as a crowd control measure?
Both sides are naturally claiming they are in the right in the matter. While it is the police’s duty to maintain law and order and the right of citizens to stand up if they feel their rights and freedoms are at stake, we urge caution on all sides at this time, as there is little room to manoeuvre as the Omicron variant continues to spread and deaths and cases climb.
There is clearly a need for serious dialogue on this very critical issue. Dialogue does not mean public officials, including the Prime Minister and Minister of Health “addressing” the population. It means having a conversation where people’s legitimate concerns can be brought to the fore in a dignified manner and where those who hold the reins of power account and explain where there are concerns.
The fight against this virus should not become a tug of war between politicians and citizens. No one will win.
This remains a time for all to come together in the national interest to fight the virus, not ourselves. Whether laws will be changed for vaccine mandates or not is up to the state, but there is no reason why dialogue and reasoning can’t happen to perhaps bring an amicable resolution to this very worrisome problem.
This country is a long way off from being out of COVID danger and only citizens can make the choices to turn the tide, but we must find a way to get it done.