Dickson Igwe, Senior political contributor
The vaccine remains the one piece of hope that the COVID 19 crisis is coming to an end
It is ironic that Republican Washington is the main obstacle to a united world fighting a dangerous and deadly pandemic. Donald Trump’s Isolationism is the reason the world has not been able to defeat a pandemic that could have been stanched when it first appeared in Wuhan China sometime at the end of 2019.
A truly multilateral approach would have seen thousands of scientists working together from multiple nations beginning January 2020, observing, researching, advising, and offering critical advice to world leaders who would then have swiftly acted to cut the head off COVID 19, much earlier, with aggressive action, locking down the entire planet in March for weeks. Most experts believe that would have stopped the spread of the Virus and today we would all be enjoying a normal festive season.
Instead, as of this December 2020, the pandemic has worsened in Europe and North America, and Northern Asia.
The Southern Hemisphere, in places such as Africa and the Caribbean, there appears to be a very malign and tame spread in the pandemic, when compared to countries such as Brazil, the USA, and the UK. The reasons for this are presently unknown, and sunlight and the availability of natural Vitamin D has been offered as a reason.
The USA is facing a horrible deterioration of its COVID 19 health matrices with up to 3500 deaths a day and the number of deaths moving towards the 300K figure. Blame the hubris of populist leaders in the USA, Brazil and UK for the failure to combat the pandemic.
Today the UK has alerted the world of a new mutation of the virus: a new variant in the virus that may have a contagious rate 70% higher than the original virus. And before schadenfreude sets in, this mutated virus is expected to appear in all corners of the world. The question is whether this mutated virus is more contagious and deadly.
Photo courtesy Edwin Hooper, Unsplash
The reality is that the final defeat of COVID 19 in addition to the vaccine depends on a united world and countries cooperating with each other to end the pandemic.
The mutated virus in the UK has seen Europe and a number of countries shut the travel door on the UK. This shutting the door is not a networked action and appears to be done on a national and not an international basis.
Suspending flights is not enough however to stop the spread of the mutation. The mutated virus is expected to spread into other countries because infected travelers may have already spread the mutated virus through air travel.
A big problem in ending the pandemic is the fact that there are too many infected people in the world. The result is that the virus has a massive host body to feed on and spread. It is like rats in a cheese factory that is open and safe for the rodents. The rats will eat, grow, and multiply.
A vaccine remains the last hope for stopping the growth and spread of the virus. However, the wide spread of the virus and the threat of mutation makes even a vaccine limited in its ability to end the pandemic.
The enemy today is too much optimism.
Human beings are social animals. We want to travel, visit friends, go to parties, shop, and take part in sporting and various social activities.
The problem is that fighting COVID 19 remains an arduous battle. Humanity has to take sacrifices in order to see an end to this pandemic. Herd immunity remains a fairy tale.
Sweden is finding that out today.
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Dickson Igwe is an education official in the Virgin Islands. He is also a national sea safety instructor. He writes a national column across media and has authored a story book on the Caribbean: 'The Adventures of a West Indian Villager'. Dickson is focused on economics articles, and he believes economics holds the answer to the full economic and social development of the Caribbean. He is of both West African and Caribbean heritage. Dickson is married with one son.
