Its not over yet
Some countries right now are experiencing what medical experts say is a second wave of the COVID 19 virus, and with some such as India, a medical crisis of untold proportions seem to be unfolding with people unable to be given much needed oxygen because of the sudden dearth of supply.
A little over one year since the pandemic begun and we still need to see a concerted and unified effort by all countries to blunt the advance and spread of the virus. What makes it worse is that despite the humungous effort to produce effective vaccines against the disease and to have as many people inoculated to achieve herd immunity we keep hearing reports and incidents of the virus mutating into various strains which render the vaccines unreliable.
The problem on the availability of various vaccines that have been manufactured seems to have taken centerstage during the past couple of weeks with the bloc of nations – the European Union (EU) – even threatening a vaccine manufacturer of sanctions due to the latter’s alleged failure to honor an agreement to supply the medicine.
Here in the Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte even admitted that the problem on the delivery of the vaccines has to do in part with rich nations cornering the available supply of vaccines to the detriment of those poor countries who are unable to wrangle a deal with the manufacturers because of lack of money.
Aside from concerns with vaccine availability there are also concerns on the availability of isolation units for COVID patients especially in countries where the apparent second wave causing surges in COVID 19 cases have flooded hospitals and other health care facilities.
All of this simply means that as far as humanity is concerned it has yet to fully grasp and comprehend the enormity of the pandemic and the prolonged crisis that is upon us. A lot of countries are still blind to the fact that because of the COVID 19 virus our previous way of life as we know it has been upended and can no longer be restored to what it once was. In other words we should now accept the fact that there is an unprecedented epidemic ravaging the globe and if we fail to stop it then the survival of humanity is in great peril.
If we want to stop the epidemic completely then all countries especially the rich and powerful ones should momentarily set aside whatever differences they have and start pooling all of their resources to combat the virus. Other poorer nations can also contribute by providing manpower or medicinal, technical or scientific expertise towards a concerted and collective effort to destroy the virus. Only by presenting a united front can humanity expect to survive this crisis of unprecedented proportions.
We already have more than a year of experience living under the shadow of the COVID 19 virus, we have the people, resources and technology as well as expertise to mount a credible campaign to systemically rid the world of the virus. If only all nations can get their act together and really work as one for the common good.
Sorry na po...
April 26, 2021
