We are once again in the complacency leg of the COVID-19 marathon. We give thanks that our reported case numbers are down and our positivity rate has strengthened over the past two weeks. If, like myself, you watch those numbers keenly every evening you must breathe a sigh of relief whenever the numbers go down. Unfortunately, just like the US dollar scale, the numbers fluctuate and one evening’s celebration becomes the next evening’s headache.

I suspect that one of the emerging reasons for not taking the vaccine is exactly what we see happening on the charts, a feeling of déjà vu, “COVID getting a licking, and we don’t need the vaccine anymore.”

Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton must be frustrated. Having worked so hard to get us in a position where our positivity rate has fallen from near 50 per cent to 8 per cent, and still counting, what he has gained on the battlefield we are losing on the vaccine side.

This is why I say we are in the complacency stage. Jamaicans are in danger of letting down our guard, patting ourselves on the back, throwing the needle out the window, and demanding normality such as crowded football stadia and mass dancehall excitement.

The prime minister has obviously sensed this and is keeping his foot on the brake.

“Let us not view this current state of reduction in COVID-19 cases as our permanent state; this is not the end of our fight against COVID-19”, he tweeted. “I want to urge caution; this is not the time to become complacent.”

Further, the health experts are warning of the impending arrival of a fourth wave of novel coronavirus infections draped in all its unknown colours. This tells us that we are in for the long haul and, even as the prime minister leads us into some form of normality, we are not likely to see any serious reprieve until mid-2022.

We have made mistakes in the past. Last year’s election campaign fever, the holiday let-ups, and the miscalculated entertainment open-gate policies set us back months in our fight against the disease. This time around the Government must act with caution even as we go into Christmastime.

We can barely get our children back into school for face-to-face classes when at the same time we hear that there will be a resumption of schoolboy football. It’s daring enough to open the school gates, but to put those same students at risk on the football field cannot be good sense.

The complacency stage in the battle with COVID-19 can be dangerous. We went through the initial importation and cluster identification stage, and almost reached a comfort zone stage when the thing backfired and we went back to where we had started. So the prime minister has his eyes wide open. He has taken on the mandate of leadership and is not letting us down. He has been very much in charge, forthright and decisive, in spite of a few mistakes.

Tufton has taken on the responsibility for one of the heaviest burdens ever cast on a minister of Government in the history of Jamaica and, as said earlier, has shown “He is the right man in the right place at the right time.”

Our Chief Medical Officer Dr Bisasor-McKenzie is unflappable, courageous, precise. Her style is engaging, comforting, compassionate, and, most importantly, inspires trust.

These three have been leading the fight for Jamaica, supported by Cabinet, medical officers, the Ministry of Health and Wellness team, the police, as well as thousands of workers stretched to the max across the country. Our medical services, hospitals, clinics, mobile units, and our thousands of indefatigable, courageous and dedicated medical workers are being strained to the limit and beyond. We owe it to them to give our full support and cooperation. We must pray for them without ceasing.

The Opposition, although picky at times, have given support with quite good ideas coming from their spokespersons in the health, education, and industry fields. It is so important at this time that both sides of the House refrain from political one-upmanship. Too often we have seen this raise its head on both sides. This must stop. One thing is certain, COVID-19 does not recognise People’s National Party (PNP) or Jamaica Labour Party (JLP), green or orange. There is no time and no space in this war for silly political games and for scoring cheap political points. He who has ears to hear let him hear!

It’s been quite a year of events colliding into each other. I got close to the front line when the St Ann Health Department conducted a full-scale vaccination drive at the Noranda Bauxite Sports Complex last month. An employee committee worked closely with the St Ann Health Department to bring the vaccination opportunity to employees and to share with the company’s operating area communities. The nurses brought to the Club the famous Jamaican nursing standards of ultimate professionalism, care, and kindness that, in spite of the pressures, created a relaxed atmosphere all day.

We must pray that our people in the trenches will never give up, but that, guided by wisdom from on high, they will continue to take the fight to the enemy.

We, the foot soldiers, must not lose our focus. My earlier suggestions through this column for an Anti-COVID-19 Month, or some specific period of focus on this pandemic, is still timely. In fact, on behalf of my Thursday evening ‘chat’ club, I am declaring November as Anti-COVID-19 Month in Jamaica — since nobody else will do it.

The month calls for deliberate, emphatic, persistent, and coordinated efforts to get every single Jamaican to understand the importance of adapting to the preventive methods for fighting the virus, hammer home the consequences for non-conformity, and demonstrate the seriousness of our intention to save lives.

We need a call to arms that will galvanise our people to act wisely and to take responsibility for their own health. There must be a plan which causes us to all, in the end, understand and appreciate this incredible thing that is happening to us, what happens to the ill ones during and after their period of illness, where we realise that this is a killer disease and an enemy licensed to kill, and whose only agenda is one of death.

COVID-19 has not gone away, never mind the encouraging numbers. It is still ‘advantage COVID-19’ because of our continued, blatant disregard of the guidelines established for fighting the pandemic and, worse, with the resistance that some have been building up to taking the vaccine. We are leaving it all up to the front-liners to do the job, and we only react when we see a near relative falling down.

Now, the vaccine is not going to solve all our problems. It could never have stopped everyone from getting the virus, but it has emerged as the most effective measure to minimise the effects of the disease, prevent deaths, and minimise hospitalisation.

Let us stop the foolishness about anti-vaccine and roll up sleeves and get the job done. Vaccination has worked for Jamaica in the past. It will continue to work for Jamaica in the future. Take the jab, for your own sake, your family’s sake, for Jamaica’s sake. Don’t be the Grinch that stole Christmas from any of us.

Lance Neita is a public and community relations specialist, historian, and author. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or lanceneita@hotmail.com.