Sierra Leone Telegraph: 21 January 2021:
The government of Sierra Leone through the agency responsible for managing its Covid-19 response strategy – NACOVERC, today announced new measures restricting the movement of people in the country, starting from next Monday 25th January 2021, in response to the alarming rise in the number of daily new Covid cases, especially in the capital Freetown since Christmas.
Some of the measures announced include – restriction of people movement for two weeks; a 10pm to 5am curfew; shut down of all entertainment spots, including beaches and night clubs; and stricter enforcement of mask wearing. But will these new measures work?
This is what the statement says:
Mr Kalokoh, I respect your opinion. So far, the vaccine has been developed, and administered to over forty million people in advanced countries; we compare that figure to the almost 98 million people that have been infected by the virus, of which 53 Million have recovered, with just over two million deaths. As of 10th of December 2020 six people have died as a result of the vaccine. Two of those deaths were as a result of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine in people with underlying illness. So far Covid19 has killed more people with no vaccine, as opposed to the forty million that have so far taken the vacine and only experienced mild side effects you get by taking any medication. The majority of people have no side effects.
I wonder if you see our president Bio leading by example, like what former president Obama did, and cureent president Joe Biden, who is in his seventies, did by taking the jab live on television will be of any reassurance to you. No one is going to force anyone to take the vacine. The unforgivable thing will be, to wage a campaign of disinformation, like the way Trump was quoted by saying. He downplayed the pandemic, so not to scare people. We can see where that got America today. At one point he suggested with no scientist collaboration to inject people with disinfectant to cure the virus. Now America is approaching almost half a million deaths.
The Brazilian president Jair Bolosonaro, downplayed the pandemic. Today Brazil has the second highest deaths in the world. I wonder if people will prefer disinfectant as recommended by Trump, or the scientifically proven Pfizer vaccine. Unfortunately, some Americans died because they listened to Trump and injected themselves with disinfectant. If my turn came for the vaccine, I will take it. I will not give it a second thought. It is better to be safe than sorry. Because back in our primary school days we were given the polio vaccine in Sierra Leone. In those days you did not have Facebook or the internet.
The difference this time is, you have a lot of conspiracy theories in the Internet. For example the Trump supporters that believe he won the election, and he was going to be sowrn in as the 46th president of the United States. Please Mr Kalokoh don’t fall for conspiracy theories.
This is serious stuff. I’m not worried about all these restrictions. What worries me is the new variant of COVID-19 which infects younger people. Remember that the majority of our people are young. Most people live in small and overcrowded homes. SAD. Is this government prepared for this new variant, God forbids If it finds its way in the Country? Think about that Rtd Brig Kellie Hassan Conteh? God bless Sierra Leone and the youths. Amen and Amen. Father God.
I hope you vaccine peddlers be the first in line, you and the rest of your family, to take the Covid Vaccine. As a matter of fact while you are at it, I implore that you take the one that is designated for me to take, because it will be of no use if you don’t take it. Because I for sure will not let that thing come close to me.
Until Sierra Leone gets tha Covid-19 vaccine, we should continue with Hygiene frequent hand washing, Facemasks (very important ) and Social Distancing (2m/6ft). Stay at home if possible and heed all government insructions. Hope S.L. gets the vaccine soon, please God. Covid-19 is a reality and a nightmare. The aim is to Stop the spread of the virus by adopting the above measures. The virus is highly contagious and is an unseen enemy.
The COVID19 vaccine has unevenly been bought and unevenly distributed to the world’s most advanced industrial countries. This continental postcode lottery of buying and distributing the COVID19 vaccine is alarming, given the population of Africa that are left behind, as rich countries scramble to get the vaccine for their population first. I think these new restrictions by Bio is the right thing to do. For the time being, implementing the COVID19 protocols, is our only safety bet to control the resurgence of the virus in Sierra leone. According to the world health organisation chief Dr. Tedros, higher income countries have administered more than forty million doses to their citizens, in forty nine higher-income countries, compared that number to just twenty five doses administered to citizens of the republic of Guinea, one of the the lowest income countries in Africa.
This is all due thanks to the Russian vaccine. It is imperative if the world wants to fight and defeat this virus, it has to be a joined-up approach and efforts, with governments around the world reaching out to low income countries like ours to help combat this deadly pandemic. No one is safe until everyone is vaccinated or given the jab. COVID19 doesn’t discriminate. Whether you are Japanese, American, German, British, Sierra Leonean, a president, a film star or a grave digger, when it strikes it strikes.