Although the local COVID-19 picture thankfully seems stable, new outbreaks within the region and around the world particularly of the highly contagious Delta variant are enough reason for extreme caution. The island with its limited medical capacity and facilities is vulnerable in more ways than one.
In addition to the obvious healthcare risk, a still-fragile recovery of the tourism economy from arguably its worst crisis ever could easily be jeopardised once again by another wave of COVID-19 infections, with all possible social consequences. Government’s decision to keep administering the vaccine provided by the Netherlands free of charge, despite earlier announcements to the contrary, was thus the right thing to do.
The importance of injecting more people cannot be overstated. Almost everyone now becoming sick did not take their shots.
Much has been made about a few vaccinated persons still testing positive, but the number is minimal. Some of those involved were also negative after a second test only days later.
Nevertheless, the bottom line is that until relative “herd immunity” has been achieved, the threat to both the population and their livelihood remains very real. Rules to prevent a further spread of this potentially deadly disease such as wearing face masks and social distancing where needed in public must therefore continue to be practised by all, vaccinated or not.
So, returning to some sense of “normalcy” anytime soon to a large extent depends on convincing “nay-sayers” and “hold-outs” to get injected. Please talk to your relatives, neighbours, and friends. Together, we can put it behind us.
