IT has always been said that prevention is better than cure and we must take the saying to heart in these troubled times of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Without doubt, getting vaccinated is the route to go if we are to conquer this vicious enemy.
COVID-19 has disrupted our lives in costly ways.
We have lost breadwinners, friends, siblings and parents.
Life, as we have known it, has changed and many of us are still coming to terms with the ‘new normal’.
This is no time for scepticism.
This is no time for doubting.
This is no time for spreading falsehoods.
COVID-19 is real and has decimated populations.
Economies the world over have been turned upside down, with recoveries expected to take a long time.
Children have been orphaned.
Development of nations has been set back decades.
Already some nations are experiencing a Third Wave of this deadly pandemic.
If we are not proactive as a nation, we will be severely affected.
Thus we must all get vaccinated.
There is no other way to be safe and to protect ourselves.
The deadly virus is still very much with us.
We are all eager to return to some ‘normalcy’ with regards various activities, such as business, education or even entertainment.
Recently, musicians were appealing to Government to be allowed to resume live shows under safe conditions.
And one of these safe conditions would be vaccinated revellers.
The year artistes have spent away from their work has seriously affected them.
By getting vaccinated and achieving the herd immunity we will be able to resume economic activities that have been put on hold.
We are all affected — white, black, yellow, every shade of humanity — no one has been spared.
We all want to see the end of the pandemic.
And one of the best ways to deal with the pandemic would be vaccination, there is just no other way.
Let us heed the words of wisdom from President Emmerson Mnangagwa: “I.. .challenge all of us in our respective communities to accept the vaccination programme and to shun vaccine hesitancy, misinformation and the negative conspiracy theories. Getting vaccinated is a personal and a family responsibility as well as national obligation.”
Indeed, as the World Health Organization (WHO) put it: “No one is safe, until everyone is safe.”
However, being vaccinated does not mean throwing caution to the wind; it means you have been given a fighting chance.
Since the relaxation of the Level Four lockdown measures, we see people congregating like there is no tomorrow; masks are now being worn at half mast, with physical/social distancing now meaning the opposite.
Again the President was on point when he said let us err on the side of caution.
Kudos should also go to most shops that enforce hand sanitisation and wearing of masks. They know the value of a live customer is more important than a dead one.
While precautions are being taken with the opening of schools, remember children will always be children. It will only take one unfortunate infection to start a viral veldfire through the multiplier effect.
Beware the Third Wave!