#BTEditorial – Tall tales and shortened lives in the time of COVID

 

Ever since the first human cases of the coronavirus, COVID-19, were reported by officials in Wuhan City, China, last December, conspiracy theorists and mischief makers have swung into action as their own fear-filled, far-fetched and fantastic tales went viral.

Across social media we have seen and read baseless claims that the virus was engineered in a laboratory in China, that wealthy elites are using COVID-19 to profit from vaccines, that the virus is linked to 5G mobile networks and that the pandemic is a hoax even amid glaring evidence of more than 1.5 million deaths and over 67 million cases.

So it’s no surprise that with the development of a vaccine, fresh and dangerous theories are spreading just as fast as the virus across the globe.

Today, British grandmother Margaret Keenan, who will turn 91 next week, became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine as part of a mass vaccination progamme. So much for the ‘One-World Order’s master plan’ to create a vaccine to eliminate blacks, who are already dying at disproportionately higher rates from the novel coronavirus.

Keenan, said: “It’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the new year after being on my own for most of the year.

“My advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it. If I can have it at 90, then you can have it too.”

UK officials hailed the move as the start of a fightback against the deadly virus while warning citizens not to drop their guard.

Just last week, Minister of Health and Wellness Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic revealed that Barbados is readying itself for the vaccine had made a down payment to the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) towards procurement through the global CoVax initiative.

“What that does for us is to guarantee us in the first instance about vaccines for 20 per cent of the population, so that’s between 50,000 and 60, 000 people in the first instance. So as soon as the vaccines are available to the Facility then that process will commence,” Lt. Col. Bostic said.

He was also quick to point out that Government is awaiting and no decision has yet been made as to who would be selected for the first batch of immunizations.

Of note, though, was his revelation that Government would soon mount a massive public relations campaign to educate Barbadians about the vaccine

We submit that effort should begin now.

By now, some would have heard an anonymous voice note, warning listeners that the vaccine is a part of a plot to kill black people. One can fully expect to hear more unfounded claims and scare tactics, in which actual historical events of past medical abuse of black patients is mixed with today’s reality of hyper-regulated, intensely peer-reviewed, double-blind-tested pharmaceutical science and technology.

Suspicion of vaccines has been around ever since the first vaccine was introduced in the 1700s, never mind the evidence that these have saved thousand of Barbadians lives over and over again and virtually eliminated measles, mumps, rubella, diphtheria, polio, tetanus and smallpox.

We concede that a vaccine won’t bring an immediate end to the pandemic but it at least offers a fighting chance to overcome this microbial enemy that has upended how we live.

There can be no denying that citizens have the right to get all the facts about the vaccine. This includes clear information from the experts and authorities on the advantages of taking the vaccine and full explanations of potential risks. Full disclosure must be at the heart of any public education campaign.

There are still plenty of questions about this vaccine but the focus must be on the science. And prevention still means social distancing, quarantine and isolation.

In a year in which everything has seemingly been politicised and partisans have trafficked in disinformation, denial and downright lying, we must support every effort to fight the virus, not each other and certainly not the facts.

A sound inoculation against ignorance, apathy and illiberalism is what is required if we are to renew our society and economy in a world after COVID-19.