The night is darkest before the dawn

For those of us who live in the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, it would seem like the period between March 2020 and the present has been one continuous cycle of increasing infections and mandatory restrictions, followed by lower infections and an easing of restrictions, only to be followed by increasing infections and mandatory restrictions again. Over and over, no end in sight.

At present, Trinidad and Tobago is experiencing its highest number of daily infections since the pandemic began. There is an understandable mix of anxiety and fatigue at this point in time. People are tired of living with the pandemic. Yet, the virus is just as enthusiastic about infecting people and causing death and illness as it ever was.

We know from experience, that the three W’s – Wear a mask, Wash your hands, Watch your distance, work. We have seen them work in our countries and in other countries outside of our region also. We know what works, and we know what happens when we don’t make them work – death, illness, and a damaged economy.

We have to find the mental toughness to continue to fight until victory is certain. We have to match the resilience of the virus with our own resilience against pandemic fatigue. There is quite simply no other way. 

Both science and history tell us that the only way to beat a virus is to achieve what is called herd immunity, or simply to reach the point where enough people are immune to the virus so that it has no where else to spread, nobody to infect. Science and history also tell us that herd immunity can only be achieved in one of two ways – by infection or by immunization. By mass death and illness or by vaccination.

There is an understandable concern about a vaccine solution that seemingly came out of nowhere. That concern gets worse if one is not aware that the science behind the covid-19 vaccines is based on decades old research used in the fight against other coronaviruses like SARS (2002) and MERS (2012). Reports of severe side effects to the vaccine, including death also add to the anxiety. Again, some knowledge can help. In the history of vaccinations, no vaccine has ever been 100% side effect free in any population. There has always been risk involved in taking a vaccine.

Vaccinations are rolling out worldwide. In many countries, life is returning to some semblance of normal before the pandemic. Whether we choose to be vaccinated or not, let us all choose to do our best to keep the virus at bay. Let us cooperate with the health authorities, practice the 3 W’s, get vaccinated and never give in to fatigue. Dawn is coming