Being in ‘global village’, Covid-19 vaccine a must
A medic administers Covid-19 vaccine at KMPDC headquarters in Nairobi on March 31, 2021.
On March 26, President Uhuru Kenyatta was vaccinated against Covid-19 in front of television cameras alongside First Lady Margaret Kenyatta, Cabinet secretaries and other top officials and their families. That was on the day the President issued new tough directives, including lockdown, aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus, which is in its third wave.
That followed varied opinions — including an advisory by Kenya Catholic Doctors Association that Covid-19 vaccination is unnecessary. Another is confirmation that steam inhalation denatures the proteins, leading to infectiveness of the Sars-CoV-2.
In addition, it is said that taking Ivermectin 12mg (0.2-0.3mg/kg/day for seven days has clinical benefits as a host-directed broad-spectrum antiviral agent, including for Sars-CoV-2. Similarly, the Zelenko protocol — Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) 200mg, taken twice a day together with Zinc 40mg once a day and Azithromycine 500mg once, all for seven days — could cure Covid-19.
This knowledge notwithstanding, South Africa, with more than a third of all Covid-19 cases in the continent, is using the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, Janssen, which is administered as a single dose with an overall efficacy rate of 64 per cent. The UK has been administering the Pfizer-developed vaccine, from the US, since late last year.
A million doses
More than 44 million Americans have received a dose of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Italy is using Reithera and Kenya imported a million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca last month to inoculate frontline personnel, among them healthcare workers, police officers and teachers.
However, the rollout of the vaccine is not only the first shot against the virus but also the new discriminant. As a member of the global community, we are closely connected and, if other nations are vaccinating, we have no choice. In the global village, that is important for our survival.
Locked out of travel
Remember, choices have consequences. Those avoiding the jab will be locked out of international travel. If a patient is seeking treatment abroad or a student is joining a foreign university, they will be denied visas. At its worst, travel advisories will be issued against the offending country, warning visitors to stay away.
As a tourism-dependent economy, one can only imagine the loss if visitors shied away from our sun ’n’ sand beaches on the Indian Ocean coastline. We would lose more revenue from those interested in seeing our savannah, rivers and lakes, the dramatic Great Rift Valley and mountain highlands, wildlife such as lions, elephants and rhinos, safaris to Maasai Mara Game Reserve, best known for the annual wildebeest migration, and other national parks.
Now that the pace has been set, we should see more medical, business, political, academic and even religious leaders queuing ahead of everyone else to receive the lifesaving jab.
