Covid-19 is here to stay, we have to change our ways |22 May 2021
Photo Credit: Times of India
When does a pandemic end? Will life be the same as it was early 2020? Is it when the world reaches herd immunity, the benchmark at which enough people are immune to an infectious disease to stop its widespread circulation? One thing is for sure: Covid-19 is not leaving us anytime soon. We just have to learn to live with it! Seychelles, although our vaccination is high, is witnessing a constant number of Covid cases daily.
Seychelles NATION asked our readers a few questions to see what do they think of the surge in the number of Covid-19 cases? What do they think of our vaccination campaign and what is our responsibility?
Colette Servina: Covid-19 is here and we have to live with it. It is an individual responsibility to observe precautionary measures. I think the vaccination campaign is good but people need to be better educated that vaccination does not stop transmission but has the ability to curb complications or severe infections. This is a new experience and we need to pay attention to the Lessons learnt.
Infection is happening in the workplaces and not only in bars or restaurants. Not everyone infected is irresponsible.
Sasha Lee-Marivel Alis: Let us get one thing straight: it was never promised that the vaccines would stop you from catching Covid-19. It is absurd to think that such an effective vaccine could be manufactured in such a short time period! The only pandemic / illness humanity has been able to almost completely eradicate through vaccines is smallpox, and now we are on our way to achieving the same with polio. Only these two after generations of having the illness around! Now people are freaking out because the Covid-19 vaccines aren’t bulletproof after barely a year? Wake up!
Perhaps because we live in a world where everything is a click away and instantaneous, we assume it would be the same in the medical field, but the truth is things take time.
What the vaccine does – proving it is effective despite all the useless blabber from WHO and the international media – is prevent severe illness and death. Isn't that what the goal is? We are being carried away in a frenzy of numbers and counting daily positive cases to compare to other countries, yet we forget that the most important thing is that people’s lives aren’t at immediate risk.
Considering the number of positive cases we are getting, added to the fact that many are not taking their responsibility of physical distancing or proper wearing of masks, I'd say we’re doing well because people are getting the treatment they need and then they go home. What matters most is not the number of cases, but rather the condition of those getting it, and whether they recover. Let’s not get distracted.
Let’s not forget that there are still many people who have not taken the vaccine, or haven’t bothered with their second dose – out of skepticism, due to underlying health conditions, or just out of sheer stupidity. This adds to the problem of severe cases.
When you watch the news from Europe and the United States, remember that they have to protect their own agenda and their own vaccines – of course, they are going to be reluctant to endorse Sinopharm and AstraZeneca vaccines. It is naïve to think these countries and their media have our best interest in mind.
People who adamantly say they know the truth about vaccines based solely on clickbait articles or videos forwarded to them on their WhatsApp baffle me. Learn to know the difference between verified sources of information, and fake news. Sift through the noise and focus on facts and science.
Didier Monnaie: A lot of people are just eager to know the cases on daily basis and are upset that the health department is not publishing them and the same people that will not contribute to enforce the requirement of wearing mask and sanitizing hands...it has been said over and over that our health is our responsibility...simple rule.
Our problem is that we have zero respect for the authority and institutions, if we all observe the requirement put forward, we all win.
As a sole trader (self-employed) ever since it has been said to wear mask and sanitizing I always make sure I have my own stock of sanitizer and extra mask, I go to a lot of houses, business properties on a weekly basis, so I can’t afford to not wearing mask and sanitizing my hands. I have even been to three houses with people under quarantine and or have close contact with infected individuals...and on two government premises where people just came out of quarantine and were close contact of infected individuals...I think if we follow the simple rule we can all win.
Simple rule: Stay away from large gathering, wear your mask at all times, sanitize your hands. If we all follow these simple rules, we all win.
Genevieve Andre: The surge is primarily due to our own selfish irresponsibility towards the current situation. Too much defiance to the system and forgetting our own safety and the safety of our loved ones. I guess we should learn to live with the Covid-19 situation and follow health guidance. The campaign for vaccination is in a dilemma with individual choices to not get vaccinated yet we want to protect the community.
Sadly, there is too much divided remarks which are politically related which might plunge the country in total disarray. Sadly, some are glorifying the current state of Covid cases in the country. We should take a patriotic stance more now than ever. It's our individual, selfless responsibility which will contribute to overcome the pandemic.
Betty Babu: Covid-19 has changed all that we have known as normal life. Even though science today has not fully understood its emergence and spread, international and local health authorities have put in place containment measures aimed at helping to curb the spread and fatalities associated with the disease.
Among the measures instituted in this regard is the fast track certification of the various Covid vaccines and the institution of Covid protocols aimed at limiting person to person infection. In the Seychelles, we have been fortunate to have been one of the early recipients of the Covid vaccine developed and citizens are required to receive the double dose of the vaccine at totally no cost to them. Also protocols have been put in place to limit person to person interaction especially those involving different households, direct business and client exposure and prohibiting large social gatherings.
It’s mandatory for every person stepping out of his home to be in protective mask and observe social distancing with respect to other persons. Individuals are advised to continue to wash and sanitize their hands very often and avoid as much as possible physical contacts with items or facilities of public usage.
With this comprehensive protocols set in place, there appears to be a surge in the Covid-19 cases in the Seychelles. This trend could be attributed to the relaxation of measures that were implemented to curb excessive interaction among people, at the shops, restaurants, bars, casinos, stadia and the general relaxation of curfew hours imposed.
Another reason could be attributed to people having gone for the first dose of the vaccine, for one reason or the other have not taken the second prescribed dose. There are even those who despite the education and vaccination campaign have refused to take the vaccine altogether.
For the above reasons some people have not developed the required immunity against the Covid-19 virus. Another reason for the surge could be attributed to irresponsibility on the part of some people who continue to celebrate indoor parties, birthday activities and other inter-family social gathering.
There is also another category of people who have abandoned the Covid-19 protocols and the wearing of mask altogether as if everything has returned to normal. It must be said that, no matter how good a campaign plan seems to be, it is the effective implementation and people living up to their social responsibility that makes all the difference.
Seychelles as a small island state generally has on paper all the measures and regulations to effectively combat the Covid menace, however if citizens don't abide by these and the law enforcement agents do not enforce them effectively it will be to no avail.
People should be made to understand that they owe it to themselves, their families and the Nation at large to behave responsibly.
A healthy people make a healthy Nation and a healthy Nation makes a prosperous one. Therefore no effort should be spared at curbing the surge in the number of Covid-19 cases if the Nation, the economy and the people have to thrive.
Norlis-Rose Hoareau: For my side I think the vaccination campaign is going on well apart from few hiccups. 95% of the population are wearing masks, some properly, some not, and to my astonishment educated people are wrongly wearing their masks! The population are not sanitizing their hands properly and I think this is the way we are catching the virus – with our infected hands touching our face. It is our responsibility to ensure that we do not contaminate someone else.
Compiled by Vidya Gappy
