The country recorded a grim reality in the current COVID-19 rampage on Monday, with news that a newborn baby girl had succumbed to the virus.
The baby was among 19 deaths registered, with four pregnant women also among the casualties. Last month, two boys, both aged 7, also died from the disease.
By yesterday, the overall death toll rose to 2,303 with another 22 deaths, among them a teenage boy.
Apart from the women, men and teenagers dying, children are also contracting the virus in greater numbers and some of them are losing the fight. Dr Joanne Paul, the Senior Paediatric Emergency Medicine Specialist at the Eric Williams Medical Science Complex, only last week warned that the virus was affecting younger patients in this latest wave.
It is the sad reality that Trinidad and Tobago is facing and will continue to experience unless the case numbers go down.
Health officials globally have made it pellucidly clear that the only way out of this crisis is through vaccination. It is true that even vaccinated people can get the virus, but the reality is that it gives people a fighting chance, quite unlike those who are unvaccinated and continue to resist taking it.
It is heart-rending listening to the stories of children who have been orphaned by this virus. It is equally sad to hear of the deaths of children, who are not empowered to make decisions on vaccines, after contracting the virus, oftentimes from the adults around them.
Think about the mother who lost her newborn baby to a virus that knows no bounds and silently attacks countless victims without being seen.
In New York on Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced a vaccine law to take effect from December 27, where employers must mandate COVID-19 vaccinations for their workers.
In T&T, however, the Ministry of Health has doubled up on space in its step-down facilities to accommodate an increase in cases either from the just concluded Tobago House of Assembly elections or the Omicron variant’s arrival. Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the bed space was being expanded from 188 to 342 in preparation for all eventualities.
While other countries institute measures to control the spread of the virus, given that there are anti-vaxxers worldwide, in T&T it seems it is business as usual in a most unusual time.
It is time the Government acts to protect citizens from themselves. Something as simple as making it mandatory to be vaccinated to do business in government offices could make a world of difference.
No one wants another lockdown and we are not advocating that. But the Government and health officials must realise different measures are required to ensure those who continue to resist the vaccine realise it is not just about their lives.
There is very little anyone can say to those who have made up their minds against taking vaccines. But their choice to play Russian roulette with their lives should not affect those who wisely chose to live in the face of a virus that has claimed millions of lives across the globe.