As our nation begins celebration of another Christmas Day, it is important to appreciate that 2021 has been a year of sacrifice for most citizens. But equally important, it has also been a year of resilience in the face of significant change and obstacles.
Despite the tumult that has accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic, most Barbadians have generally displayed a steely resolve to make the best of the extremely tough hand we have been dealt.
Regarding our response to the pandemic, the majority of citizens and residents who were eligible to take the COVID-19 vaccines, chose to do despite the confusing and often overwhelming and conflicting information coming at them from official and unofficial sources.
According to data from the Ministry of Health and Wellness, 68 per cent of the population 12-years and older has received at least one of the vaccines, and 62 per cent of the eligible population is fully vaccinated.
People have answered the call of the local medical fraternity and have affirmed the validity of the message they have been receiving for almost a year; that the vaccine, along with following the health protocols represent the best chance of evading the worst effects of the viral illness.
A large portion of our population still remains unvaccinated for various reasons. They have chosen to make it a personal decision, despite the public health implications of that choice. To those persons, we hope that at some point they will be convinced of the many advantages to being vaccinated.
In all this, there have been several heroes who put country before self and have remained loyal soldiers in the fight to keep Barbados safe.
Today, as we focus on the joy of the Christmas season, we salute members of the medical profession and all our frontline employees who worked through the worst episodes of the pandemic to ensure our safety at the personal level by providing quality health care.
Those, by virtue of the nature of their employment, did not enjoy the luxury of working from home, but were forced to face possible exposure to the disease – from supermarket and petrol station workers to our law enforcement, military, and public transport employees.
Some, unfortunately, became ill or lost their lives to the disease. In this near two-year battle, this army of workers was ably led by a formidable former military man, the Most Honourable Lieutenant Colony Jeffrey Bostic.
Bostic, along with officials of the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Harrison Point and the other isolation facilities, the COVID Unit, as well as the teams at our various testing and vaccination centres deserve our eternal gratitude.
And as we focus on the positives in the face of chaos, we cannot underestimate the contribution of the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners (BAMP). Its president Dr Lynda Williams has been our national conscience when we sought to put commerce or politics before science.
Dr Williams and her colleagues at BAMP were prepared to speak truth to power and have had the uncomfortable conversation that we as a country needed to engage in as we sought to find a meaningful balance between protecting lives and livelihood.
The organisation has made its position clear on issues relation to national protocols, entry requirements at the various ports, matters relating to testing and surveillance, and the vexing issue of curfews and shutdowns.
It has not been an easy road. In fact, the on-going nurses strike which has been sanctioned by the Unity Workers’ Union (UWU), is an example of how tumultuous and sometimes chaotic this period has been.
And as we lament about the difficult economic times, the high level of unemployment and under-employment, the instability facing our key economic driver – tourism, one cannot help but marvel at the generosity of Barbadians even in these circumstances.
It was heart-warming to learn that the local Salvation Army could be on target to reach its aim to raise $700 000 to sustain its annual programme of feeding and housing our most vulnerable.
A credible organisation with a history of religious instruction and charity work, the Salvation Army has received $424 000 so far from Barbadians and is expressing confidence that it will reach its goal.
What the development has shown is that even in the worst of times, Barbadians will come through for those in less fortunate circumstances, and that is certainly what the Christmas season is about.
