Editorial comment – Motivation through hope

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U.S. President-elect Joe Biden receives a dose of a vaccine against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at ChristianaCare Christiana Hospital, in Newark, Delaware, U.S. December 21, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis

Sometimes we need a reality check to remind us about scenarios that exist around us.

That’s where the report on page four of yesterday’s edition, about a young mother’s predicament comes in.

There is a huge problem before us. The global COVID-19 pandemic has seen thousands of people lose their jobs.

Many more are on reduced hours and many have been forced to take massive pay cuts. It’s just the way things are right now.

For instance, on the international front, the pace of COVID-19 vaccine administration in the US, according to a report on CNN yesterday, continues to improve, each day bringing the country closer to herd immunity — the point at which enough people are protected against a disease that it cannot spread.

This week, it reported, President Joe Biden said that the US will have enough vaccine for every adult by the end of May, and a CNN analysis of federal data shows that herd immunity is likely not far behind.

It reported, at the current pace of about two million shots per day — the latest seven-day average of doses administered reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the US could reach herd immunity by summer through vaccinations alone.

It will likely be even sooner, if factoring in individuals who may have some natural immunity due to prior infection.

Herd immunity thresholds for COVID-19, CNN reported, are only estimates at this point.

But experts generally agree that somewhere between 70 per cent and 85 per cent of the population must be protected to suppress the spread, a range that Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases recently cited.

According to CNN, more than 8 per cent of the population — nearly 28 million people — is already fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from the CDC. That is the harsh reality of the pandemic on a global scale.

Countries are still struggling to bring it under control. Vaccines, they hope, will bring about some semblance of order.

On the home front, some parents of children living with disabilities in informal settlements around Suva have been pushed to breaking point because of the pandemic.

As our report yesterday revealed, among them is Ledua Ratubuli of Qauia settlement in Lami.

Ms Ratubuli said the pandemic had hit her family hard.

She spoke about days she would struggle to feed her four children. She said her husband had difficulties trying to find a job because of the pandemic.

“Because of my son’s condition, my husband had to leave his previous job. But he was fortunate to find a job as a messenger last week. Before that, we were selling food in the settlement to earn money.”

She described the course of action she was forced to take when she ran out of diapers one day. She had no cash then.

“I looked around the house to see what I could do to earn some money to buy my children’s diapers. There was flour in the pantry. I made rourou bhaji and sold them. I was able to get $10 to buy the diapers.”

Sometimes she would miss out on meals so her children could have enough to eat.

“Sometimes we have nothing at all and this breaks me. We are trying to take one day at a time during this pandemic.”

Again, while we will be thankful we are one of the few countries in the world that is COVID-contained, let’s consider the reality that there are many struggling to make ends meet.

Like everyone else, they too will be looking up to the powers that be for reassurance.

Hope, however, can be motivating to some extent.

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