Anti-vaxxers of varying rank; those who wholesale and retail superstitious beliefs, religiously imbued or not; conspiracy theorists who peddle a twisted narrative that the pandemic is a hoax; and those who have desperately tried to turn a public health issue into a cultural dogfight, have gone relatively quiet since the surge in Jamaicans across the island who are turning out to be vaccinated.

The loud silence of the anti-vaxxers and their acolytes may well be an indication that they are losing, are surrendering, or are more than likely ‘re-strategising’ for a final showdown.

We who have supported vaccination and related public health protocols which are intended to stymie a pandemic — which health experts say is the worst in the last 100 years — must not become complacent. We must press home the advantage, because the race is far from finished.

The continued and senseless opposition to sensible and life-saving preventative measures that have been proven to mitigate the spread of viruses and diseases for hundreds of years only adds to the miserable quotient of ignorance which already exists in too many spheres of our public life. It does us absolutely no good.

I believe that at this juncture in the pandemic there are only two sides — those who are part of the solution or those who are part of the problem.

Physical distancing is political for some, so too mask wearing and related hygiene measures. Some ceaselessly spin a crazy narrative that these public health measures are part of an elaborate State plot to do-in citizens. I speak here of public health measures which have been tried, tested, proven, and globally accepted for hundreds of years.

We must not be fooled by the waving of trinkets or noises about globalist schemes to create a ‘one world order’ via the route of health protocols. Know, though, that those are very dangerous noises.

There are some among us who have devised grandiose plots that are nothing more than Bernie Madoff-type pyramid schemes. I think that is how they titivate themselves intellectually and otherwise. Those of us who are unapologetically anti-COVID-19 must maintain a clear line in the stand.

Claptrap that a group called the global Illuminati has placed a chip in COVID-19 vaccines so that they can spy on people has been discredited repeatedly. Yet it persists like a rumour about the sighting of a flying saucer or an extraterrestrial object — with a notable exception, the grim reaper feeds on every whiff of this guff.

An age-old question arises here: Should someone have the right to shout fire in a crowded theatre when there is not a fire?

My answer is no!

The cold, frosty hands of COVID-19 have clasped all parts of the globe. No social class, economic enclave, or religious protectorate has been spared from the octopus-like tentacles of the novel coronavirus. The consequences have been horrendous. Millions have been uprooted economically, many millions more are facing social displacement and unprecedented emotional trauma. At the time of writing, some 4.5 million people globally have succumbed to COVID-19 and there are some 220 million and counting cases of novel coronavirus infections worldwide.

We in Jamaica are under the unforgiving weight of the pandemic. At the time of writing, we had recorded 31 more COVID-19-related deaths in the last 24 hours, forcing the count to 1,549. There were 351 new cases, with ages ranging from 45 to 95 years, driving the total to 68,482, with 18,103 being active. People in hospital numbered 712, with 196 being moderately ill and 94 critically so.

The 1,549 Jamaicans who have died from COVID-19 are not mere numbers. Some were fathers, mothers, and main breadwinners. They all had family. We can best honour their memory by doubling up on the prescriptions of the World Health Organization (WHO) and related local and regional authorities as we carry on our lives and livelihoods in a new normal dictated by the wearing of appropriate face masks, physical distancing, frequent personal and public sanitisation, and vaccination. Health experts agree that thousands of deaths globally could have been averted if everyone simply adhered to these requirements. 

Vaccination is the key

I sense an important positive shift here in Jamaica regarding adherence to some of the mentioned public health requirements. Vaccination is one. Whether it is to safeguard their visa to America, the horror of having lost loved ones, the fear of COVID-19, long-haul illnesses, the successes of the Government’s communication and education programme, recent collaborative efforts of the Church and non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the now ready availability of vaccines [plural], a sting of common sense, the almighty prick of self-preservation, and/or some other reasons which I have not named — and/or maybe yet to understand — I am extremely happy that significantly more Jamaicans have thrown irrationality to the far corners of where the sun does not shine.

They have decided to take the proven life-saving COVID-19 vaccine.

This is literally music to my ears.

Headline: ‘Jamaica surpasses 500,000 vaccinations — Tufton’. The news item said among other things:

“Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton made the announcement a short while ago on social media.

” ‘This is a big milestone for Jamaica, and we are well on the way to meeting our target of 700,000 vaccinations by the end of September,’ Tufton tweeted.

“He urged Jamaica to continue encouraging people to get vaccinated.

“Jamaica also welcomed 200,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Canada today, bringing vaccine donations to 800,000 since this month.” ( Jamaica Observer, August 26, 2021)

The anti-vaxxers must be wringing their hands and other parts of their body in consternation at this ray of hope. I hope they wring and wring until they are struck by a jolt of… ‘I am my brother’s keeper.’

Those who peddle death need the enlightenment. I submit that one does not need a PhD in immunology, virology, or related sciences to realise that vaccination is the escape route from this pandemic.

A tragic matter that requires little exercising of the mind is the terrible reality that hospitals across our country are totally out of beds for COVID-19 patients. Verified reports of patients sleeping in chairs, lying on mattresses on the floor or resting on benches in hospital corridors and even worst are now widely available in the public domain.

Medical authorities say that most-meaning 99 per cent and upwards of those hospitalised were not vaccinated.As I see it, the unvaccinated are like huge chunks of iron-filings to a giant magnet.

The Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 is the magnet, and the iron-filings are human hosts in this comparison.

Scientific data from across the globe prove that the number of vaccinated people who get infected with the novel coronavirus and later develop COVID-19 are minuscule compared to the unvaccinated. Importantly, too, vaccinated folks rarely require hospitalisation. It is not rocket science, vaccination saves lives.

I think those who slavishly continue to immerse themselves in ignorance as regard vaccination and other public health measures intended to slow and/or prevent the deadly spread of the novel coronavirus are a very serious risk to the aggregate public good of the country.

HCWs need real love

On the matter of public good, I pointed out many months ago that this Andrew Holness-led Administration was developing a ‘soon come’ penchant which was not winning it any political brownie points.

Recall that on April 5, 2020 I wrote, among other things, in this space: “Our nurses, doctors, radiographers, epidemiologists, social workers, porters, laboratory technicians, ambulance drivers, indeed all categories of health workers who are on the front line working tirelessly to safeguard all of us are heroes. So, too, are the members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), correctional officers, and all other essential staff. Jamaica owes you all a great debt of gratitude for your selflessness. We need to thank them with more than just words, though.”

In my piece on October 11, 2020 I noted: “The Holness Administration has introduced several incentives to lessen ‘burnout’ of health-care professionals. This is good! I believe they need to do more. I think the Administration should deliver a one-off grant (payable in April 2021) equivalent to 25 per cent of one’s gross salary for front-line workers. Money sweetens labour as much as encouragement.”

I continue to believe that these categories of workers deserve unique considerations during this pandemic.

Few will deny the Herculean job that our health workers and members of the security forces have done and are doing to protect the well-being of the citizens of this country.

My support for these categories of workers has been steadfast. I gather the Cabinet is now warming to the idea of some kind of special incentive for categories of health care workers.

Was it the ‘sick-out’ by the nurses that ignited the warming? Why does officialdom continue to subliminally and otherwise send the message that in order to get attention we have to create dislocation. This is madness!

In my The Agenda piece on August 22, 2021, two days before industrial action by the nurses, I wrote among other things: “The major unions are flexing their muscles, and some of their recent utterances suggest strike action is looming. The cost of many crucial goods and services, gasoline, transportation, and some food items, for example, have seen sharp increases in price in recent months and weeks.” Industrial action was foreseeable.

It is foreseeable, too, that there will be more disturbance on the industrial scene in the coming weeks. The Administration, of course, can take certain actions to avert something which has become a negative staple in industrial relations in this country for donkey’s years. Will they?

It seems to me that some critical ears in the Holness Administration have tuned out from the vibrations of the common man. This does not augur well. There needs to be a shifting of gear.

Today’s workers are not impressed with long service awards, citations, and medals after 20, 30, and 40 years of service to country. Workers see their retired predecessors fetching literal hell. Many are struggling to buy medication to treat chronic illnesses. Many are struggling to pay a mortgage and/or rent. Many are struggling to buy food. And, despite strenuous efforts, many cannot stretch their woefully inadequate pension, which is sometimes delivered late.

This template of sorrows is not attractive.

I have documented in previous articles how we have misgoverned our affairs over many decades. When we had plenty, for example, from the sale of bauxite, we squandered the resources. Today we are unable to decently remunerate some of our most skilled workers who are in high demand in developed economies. But we cannot roll over and die.

Here is where we could begin a radical shift. Local unions need a new negotiation focus and new techniques. For starters, it is time the unions get the Government to ensure that systems are set in place to guarantee that retired workers get their correct pension payments on time.

I humbly submit that protracted wage negotiations which take upwards of eight months, and sometimes even longer, to conclude, don’t really benefit workers. It’s full time Government and unions work out a way for salary negotiations to be completed in a maximum of 90 days.

These should be a minimum standards cast in concrete and set in stone. Of course, I can hear the voices of certain people in the bureaucracy. “It cannot be done.” It is amazing what can and cannot be done in this country when certain people are affected or not.

The choice is clear. We can continue to do the same things in the same way and get the same results, the formula for madness as Einstein said, or we can embrace some fresh thinking. We don’t have to reinvent the wheel either.

This approach pre-supposes, of course, changes to our antiquated bureaucratic systems which have helped to hold back this country for years. Doubtless some will shout, “that is a mightily unpopular thing to say”. I know. But I would love someone to show me a country that has emerged, escaped even, from a low-skill, low-wage existence to a high-skill, high-income reality without paradigm shifts in its politics and simultaneous tectonic shake-ups of its bureaucracies.

The world will not wait for us to make up our minds.

Garfield Higgins is an educator and journalist. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or higgins160@yahoo.com.