BTColumn – To vaccinate or not to vaccinate

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by this author are their own and do not represent the official position of the Barbados TODAY Inc.

by Stephen Austin

Several weeks ago, I was thinking of the possibility of taking the vaccine and to myself said “why will I want a vaccine and to boot – Oxford Astra Zeneca? Why Bim can’t get Pfizer and Moderna, I heard they are 95 per cent efficient against fighting off the severity of COVID?”

I thought why take Astra Zeneca which I understand on face value is only 65 per cent efficacious. After 10 weeks the second shot offers up to 82 per cent efficacy.

I received a call that our tourism frontline workers were being called to get the vaccine. Will it be a yea or a nay, we had to send in names for our team info and indicate if our willingness to take the vaccine.

I struggled that night to weigh up the options, did more research and found out that Oxford Astra Zeneca was using old or proven technology, so the vaccine prepares one’s body to fight the virus while the Pfizer and Moderna are considered new technology. In addition, several millions in various countries have taken the vaccine with no side effects. The Oxford Astra Zeneca is also able to be transported and stored for distribution.

I started to think of my family and what would be the effect if I did or did not take the vaccine. You see folks, my dad and mum provided really well for me over the years growing up and worked hard to ensure I had the best of whatever they could provide.

I was never able to get everything I wanted but got everything I needed. I know the struggle because I lived it growing up and I knew the battle they had each day to make a living and keep us fed and comfortable.

So, I weighed up the options, my dad Jeffrey is 79, and not able to move around like before, he is in a wheelchair and in pampers as his mobility is limited.

We have a beautiful soul Heather looking after him six days a week and I have one afternoon that I spend with him to change him, provide Sunday lunch and catch up with my parents. My mum Shirley is 76 and able to move around but she is no longer a young yam, since COVID she has not been out of the house too often.

Option 1

Don’t take the vaccine, even though I am frontline tourism, let me wait and see maybe, I can get a shot of Pfizer or Moderna at a later date.

Option 2

Take the vaccine and have a bad reaction or my parents; read a few places that some people had a bad reaction. (double-checked the social media post and while this may have been true in trials it was less than 1 per cent.)

Option 3

Take the vaccine and parents decide to take the vaccine – maximum protection.

If I choose option one and something happened to my dad and mum would I be able to lay my head down at night and have a peaceful rest. Never!

If I choose Option 2 and something happened, am I comfortable with the risk of having a bad reaction?

I had to discuss with my team at work the pros and cons and I was really honest with sharing my struggle with my team. I had to share my thoughts in a real way.

All my life I reflected on the fact that my parents allowed me to be vaccinated for mumps, measles, polio and all the other vaccines. My children all grew up and we did all the green card vaccinations. Never blinked an eye, never worried about it or even discussed it as a major issue.

Is it the speed of the research, the level of information shared on social media? The fake news all around. Who should I believe?

I thought about 2020, I thought sadly of a few of my friends and those Barbadians and thousands around the world that have not survived this pandemic. I thought of my own struggle with my son’s health and our journey navigating the hills and
the valleys.

Up to last year travelling during a pandemic for a medical procedure in Florida with my son, where many called the hot spot of COVID-19 was totally frightening. However, we survived travel with constant mask-wearing, sanitising and social distancing.

I thought about my work and my family at work, the challenges of balancing people’s livelihoods and the survival of my island.

My mind whirled and my head hurt to find an answer.

I remember feeling energised as something inside of me clicked, it could be the ancestral light of my grandfather or just the realisation that the war against this dreaded virus is not over. I decided that the risk of no action was not a risk that I could take. Dale Carnegie said: “Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage.”

I decided to take the vaccine. I decided that my life and the life of the people around me at home and at work and around the island were too important to pick and choose and evaluate purely on emotion and perception, or misinformation.

You see my friends, the decision to take this vaccine makes more sense to me now than ever before. My life and my passion are tourism…hospitality…the welcoming of people to my beautiful island home Barbados. COVID-19 has decimated our industry, many of businesses are on the brink and many of my people faced serious hardships last year and the light is far from shining in 2021.

Many people cling to a hope that tourism will return or some say why not diversify. I say to those that say to diversify, fine and dandy, let’s diversify with green energy, agriculture and even medical marijuana which I do agree should be our country’s focus as we move forward.

But this diversification will not negate the fact that as an island we need more people to use our services, those who seek an experience so that other businesses can survive. You see tourism is not all about hotels, or fancy restaurants or the sea, sun and the sand.

Hospitality is about friendly interactions and sharing of experiences where you pass by the coconut vendor and drink coconut water out of the shell.

Having a cold beer at the rum shop opposite the fish market where the fish you buy is fresh and cleaned right before your eyes. It is to buy wholesome vegetables and fruit from vendors, as organic as you can find in the world. It is about our music and our interaction with those who call Barbados their second home or those who are visiting for a short period of time.

It is about people and relationships, bonds built up over time that are passed on to generations to come.Barbados was not really built only by sugarcane, it really was built by strong men and women who were proud and hard working.

I remember my grandfather saying that the injustices of the past should not hinder you from striving for better and actually doing better. No excuses, always work harder, think more of what you can do better and make it happen. So, for those out there who believe this is a Government or 5 G conspiracy theory, I too believe that I am a satellite but not for the same reasons. You see I always reflect to what grounds me as a true son of the soil.

Our National Anthem….

“In plenty and in time of need

When this fair land was young

Our brave forefathers sowed the seed

From which our pride was sprung”

I am a satellite of my forefathers who sowed the seeds.

The seeds of light.

The seeds of faith.

And the seeds of hope.

I have no doubt or fear as the Lord will guide Barbados out of this pandemic.

I choose to take this vaccine, I choose to live, I choose to fight with all of my might for my family, my team, my people, my livelihood and for my country Barbados.

Thanks to our Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, thanks to our Government, thanks to our unsung heroes of this pandemic, the nurses and the doctors and those in health care and the frontline workers.

Friends and families, do the right thing, we are in this together. I am unapologetically a proud Barbadian,

Maybe recently overused but so much needed now. “No retreat, no surrender…….

“Upward and onward, we shall go,

Inspired, exulting, free,

And greater will our nation grow

In strength and unity.”

Get vaccinated… fight COVID-19.

Save our beautiful island home Barbados.

Stephen Austin is former Chairman of the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association.