‘But nah, y’all listen to YouTube, TikTok and WhatsApp pundits. Keep believing you are some sort of freedom fighter raging against big pharma and Government control. But when you get sick or get put out of a job because of shutdown measures, don’t go crying.’
By Alicia Chamely
I WANTED to write on the impact of beach closures, having just spent a week in the economically desolate island that Tobago has been reduced to.
I wanted to write on the lack of public confidence in the Police Services Commission and the entire Commissioner of Police debacle.
I wanted to write on the need for us to develop proper environmental policies in the wake of the World Leaders Summit on Climate Change.
I so desperately wanted to write on anything, other than the Covid-19 pandemic.
But alas, this week rolled around and BAM our infections went out of control. Between Wednesday to Friday we recorded more than 1,500 cases. That number is bonkers, especially this far along in the game.
To make it worse our Covid-designated hospitals and ICUs are on the verge of collapse. Our ambulance service is overwhelmed and the demand for vaccines has flatlined.
Congratulations T&T, we are in a proper mess. We are big with no sense.
Naturally in times of crisis, we as a people choose to focus our blame on everyone but ourselves.
Firstly, yes the Government has fallen short in some areas. The shortage of ambulances is not new; it has been a problem way before Covid. One would have thought someone would have remedied this issue a long time ago, with the regular complaints of people dying waiting for available ambulances way before Covid came crashing upon our shores.
Another way in which I personally feel they have dropped the ball comes from my personal experience with Covid. I do not think the Government has done enough in terms of educating or supporting Covid patients in home self-isolation.
To clarify, when my husband and I tested positive for Covid, it took the Ministry a week to contact us and be like, “Y’all okay? Alive? Great! Take some Panadol and if you feel like you’re dying call an ambulance.”
Seriously?
Luckily, we come from a family of doctors so as we tested positive we were given oximeters, given preventative broad-spectrum antibiotics and steroidal inhalers. We were also told to steam twice a day and given instructions on breathing exercises to help clear our lungs.
I know the Government cannot go around handing out oximeters, but I am pretty sure they can assure Covid patients in home isolation have the information they need in a timely matter before it gets to the point where they need serious medical intervention.
Now, we come to our most serious issue. We can blame the Government all we want, but at the end of the day, the responsibility is ours.
Wear your mask correctly, avoid large gatherings, get vaccinated if you can and if you are sick do not wait until you are on death’s door to seek medical help. Common sense is clearly something lacking in the pandemic.
Our rising cases are a result of our own slackness. I drove past a work crew this week. Of seven people, five were either not wearing their masks or were wearing them below their noses. One sneeze from one Covid positive workmate and it’s game over for them.
People keep blaming the Government, I am at a loss as to what more do you expect them to do. People called for lockdowns, they called for lockdowns to be lifted. They called for vaccines, they called for a variety of vaccines, then they bawled the vaccine does not work and they should not be forced to take them.
For all the vaccines haters out there let me clarify. The vaccine reduces your risk of contracting Covid; if you do get Covid, your risk of hospitalisation or developing deadly co-infections is greatly reduced. It doesn’t make you immune, but it gives you a fighting chance.
Having enough people vaccinated means fewer hospitalisations; less strain on our health care systems and already stretched too thin resources.
And while there are side effects, they are a lot rarer than the long term effects Covid can have on your body.
But nah, y’all listen to YouTube, TikTok and WhatsApp pundits. Keep believing you are some sort of freedom fighter raging against big pharma and Government control. But when you get sick or get put out of a job because of shutdown measures, don’t go crying.
While you may be able to survive Covid with your superior immune system, you may give it to someone else in your no vax posse who cannot survive. But then again according to your logic, the people who fall into the 2% mortality rate don’t matter.
Their lives are not as important as your freedom.
So here we are in a big old mess, with no one to blame but ourselves.
Round of applause T&T we keep outdoing ourselves when it comes to hard-headedness.
A Message for Vaccine Haters
‘But nah, y’all listen to YouTube, TikTok and WhatsApp pundits. Keep believing you are some sort of freedom fighter raging against big pharma and Government control. But when you get sick or get put out of a job because of shutdown measures, don’t go crying.’
I WANTED to write on the impact of beach closures, having just spent a week in the economically desolate island that Tobago has been reduced to.
I wanted to write on the lack of public confidence in the Police Services Commission and the entire Commissioner of Police debacle.
I wanted to write on the need for us to develop proper environmental policies in the wake of the World Leaders Summit on Climate Change.
I so desperately wanted to write on anything, other than the Covid-19 pandemic.
But alas, this week rolled around and BAM our infections went out of control. Between Wednesday to Friday we recorded more than 1,500 cases. That number is bonkers, especially this far along in the game.
To make it worse our Covid-designated hospitals and ICUs are on the verge of collapse. Our ambulance service is overwhelmed and the demand for vaccines has flatlined.
Congratulations T&T, we are in a proper mess. We are big with no sense.
Naturally in times of crisis, we as a people choose to focus our blame on everyone but ourselves.
Firstly, yes the Government has fallen short in some areas. The shortage of ambulances is not new; it has been a problem way before Covid. One would have thought someone would have remedied this issue a long time ago, with the regular complaints of people dying waiting for available ambulances way before Covid came crashing upon our shores.
Another way in which I personally feel they have dropped the ball comes from my personal experience with Covid. I do not think the Government has done enough in terms of educating or supporting Covid patients in home self-isolation.
To clarify, when my husband and I tested positive for Covid, it took the Ministry a week to contact us and be like, “Y’all okay? Alive? Great! Take some Panadol and if you feel like you’re dying call an ambulance.”
Seriously?
Luckily, we come from a family of doctors so as we tested positive we were given oximeters, given preventative broad-spectrum antibiotics and steroidal inhalers. We were also told to steam twice a day and given instructions on breathing exercises to help clear our lungs.
I know the Government cannot go around handing out oximeters, but I am pretty sure they can assure Covid patients in home isolation have the information they need in a timely matter before it gets to the point where they need serious medical intervention.
Now, we come to our most serious issue. We can blame the Government all we want, but at the end of the day, the responsibility is ours.
Wear your mask correctly, avoid large gatherings, get vaccinated if you can and if you are sick do not wait until you are on death’s door to seek medical help. Common sense is clearly something lacking in the pandemic.
Our rising cases are a result of our own slackness. I drove past a work crew this week. Of seven people, five were either not wearing their masks or were wearing them below their noses. One sneeze from one Covid positive workmate and it’s game over for them.
People keep blaming the Government, I am at a loss as to what more do you expect them to do. People called for lockdowns, they called for lockdowns to be lifted. They called for vaccines, they called for a variety of vaccines, then they bawled the vaccine does not work and they should not be forced to take them.
For all the vaccines haters out there let me clarify. The vaccine reduces your risk of contracting Covid; if you do get Covid, your risk of hospitalisation or developing deadly co-infections is greatly reduced. It doesn’t make you immune, but it gives you a fighting chance.
Having enough people vaccinated means fewer hospitalisations; less strain on our health care systems and already stretched too thin resources.
And while there are side effects, they are a lot rarer than the long term effects Covid can have on your body.
But nah, y’all listen to YouTube, TikTok and WhatsApp pundits. Keep believing you are some sort of freedom fighter raging against big pharma and Government control. But when you get sick or get put out of a job because of shutdown measures, don’t go crying.
While you may be able to survive Covid with your superior immune system, you may give it to someone else in your no vax posse who cannot survive. But then again according to your logic, the people who fall into the 2% mortality rate don’t matter.
Their lives are not as important as your freedom.
So here we are in a big old mess, with no one to blame but ourselves.
Round of applause T&T we keep outdoing ourselves when it comes to hard-headedness.