Six­ty and over? The vac­cine is your pro­tec­tor.

Con­tained in the mem­o­ries of old­er peo­ple are the sto­ries of our com­mu­ni­ties. Through their mist­ed eyes, we re­mem­ber the world as it used to be. Through their words, we learn of our his­to­ry, of how we be­came who we are to­day. How do we re­gard old­er per­sons in our so­ci­ety? As el­ders or old­er peo­ple? As sources of wis­dom or a drain on re­sources?

In TT, as else­where, the new sto­ry is one of greater life ex­pectan­cy. In the 1960s, we ex­pect­ed men to live to about age 62; women, 66. In 2021, life ex­pectan­cy in both age groups has in­creased by 10 years. Med­ical im­prove­ments, greater aware­ness of healthy lifestyles and man­ag­ing stress have all opened up the pos­si­bil­i­ty of many of us liv­ing well in­to our 90s. Just this week, we cel­e­brat­ed an­oth­er cen­te­nar­i­an in To­ba­go.

The COVID-19 vac­cine – A chance for a bet­ter qual­i­ty of life

COVID-19 is a res­pi­ra­to­ry ill­ness af­fect­ing the lungs. Old­er per­sons with pre-ex­ist­ing con­di­tions such as high blood pres­sure, di­a­betes or heart dis­ease are par­tic­u­lar­ly vul­ner­a­ble to in­fec­tion. In­creas­ing­ly, we are learn­ing how dis­tress­ing the pan­dem­ic has been for old­er per­sons. Sto­ries of lone­li­ness and iso­la­tion are emerg­ing. Many are with­out a part­ner or fam­i­ly to care for them and sud­den­ly cut off from even the small cir­cles of com­fort they once en­joyed.

Thank­ful­ly, glob­al da­ta on the ef­fec­tive­ness of the vac­cines for old­er pop­u­la­tions is en­cour­ag­ing. In­deed the COVID-19 vac­cines do not of­fer 100% pro­tec­tion. How­ev­er, tak­ing it at least pro­vides the im­mune sys­tem with a greater chance of re­sist­ing this in­va­sive virus.

In the Caribbean, the Pan Amer­i­can Health Or­gan­i­sa­tion/World Health Or­ga­ni­za­tion has col­lab­o­rat­ed with the TT gov­ern­ment to pri­ori­tise old­er per­sons to re­ceive the vac­cine and in­crease their pro­tec­tion against this life-threat­en­ing dis­ease.

As we con­tin­ue to live longer, our sto­ries are what sus­tain us. We need the sto­ries of old­er per­sons. They de­fine us as a peo­ple and keep us ground­ed as a na­tion. For­tu­nate­ly, the COVID-19 vac­cine of­fers a chance for an­oth­er nar­ra­tive – hope.

Vac­ci­nate to­day....live to­mor­row!

Did you know?

- Old­er per­sons who are un­vac­ci­nat­ed are more vul­ner­a­ble to hos­pi­tal­i­sa­tion or even death.

- Chil­dren, young peo­ple and oth­er fam­i­ly mem­bers may have the coro­n­avirus but not dis­play any symp­toms.

- Care­givers and fam­i­ly mem­bers should con­sid­er vac­ci­na­tion as a way of pro­tect­ing old­er per­sons in their care. Ad­di­tion­al­ly, main­tain safe be­hav­iours such as wear­ing masks, sani­tis­ing sur­faces, wash­ing hands and keep­ing a safe dis­tance, to lim­it the chance of in­fec­tion.