Of Coronavirus, Vaccines & Expectations: Dealing with the “New” Problem of Humanity

Of Coronavirus, Vaccines & Expectations: Dealing with the “New” Problem of Humanity

By: Dr. Yaw Amponsah Adoo

Publication Date: February 17, 2021

Tuesday, December 31, 2019 shall forever live-in infamy. On this day, the health authority in the central Chinese city of Wuhan publicized that health experts were exploring the outbreak of a unique respiratory disease for affected victims who had visited a seafood marketplace in the city. The authorities revealed that 27 people had fallen ill with a rare strain of viral pneumonia of which seven were in life-threatening state. They reported it to the World Health Organization (WHO). On January 30, 2020, the WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a global health emergency. This event changed the world forever.

It has been 384 days since the infamous declaration at the time of writing this blog. More than 488,000 thousand Americans have died since, including 15,691 Georgians. Many that died had severe underlying medical conditions like heart or lung disease or diabetes. Others – particularly older adults who were 60 or older – were projected to have died due to a higher risk for developing more serious complications from COVID-19 illnesses.

COVID-19 is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. Viruses always change during mutation, and new variants occur over time. Sometimes, new variants develop and vanish. Other times, new variants begin and persevere. Several variants of the virus that causes COVID-19 have been recognized in the U.S. and worldwide throughout this pandemic.

Taking COVID-19 shots is an important activity to getting us back to pre-December 2019 normal. COVID-19 is a brand-new illness and several companies have manufactured new vaccines to stop the pandemic. Multiple health information has swiftly become available everywhere, prescribing how the new vaccines can be managed. Studies from qualified journals have expressed COVID-19 vaccines to be effective at keeping you from getting the virus. Recognized experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci have been beating the drum for Americans to get the vaccine when they become available and for all of us to continue to do 0ur part by masking and social distancing until herd immunity is reached and variants controlled. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) has outlined clear steps we can all take to protect ourselves before we can get vaccinated. After vaccination, we are still to continue using all the quality health information available to help stop this pandemic as we learn more about how the vaccines work for all Americans.

Many countries and communities around the world have managed COVID-19 differently. Decisions have been made based on public and private funding, international aid, demographics, and willingness of the people to do something about it. WHO has been the central focus for many countries in delivering competence and real-time updates as well as coordinating with philanthropic organizations?

Kenya leads the world in COVID-19 contact tracing and reducing transmission, where it tapped into its vast experience in previously eradicating Ebola. Iraq, with its weak health system caused by years of war and internal crises, is the leader in building negative pressure rooms for in-hospital isolation, where buildings are retrofitted to get air pumped into rooms, filtered, and pumped out in the 3 major cities of Basra, Erbil and Baghdad. Iran leads the world in collecting data through vaccine trails to finding a cure for the virus when it joined WHO’s Solidarity Clinical Trial in February 2020. Within the first couple of weeks of March 2020, Iran filled its hospitals to capacity, voluntarily requesting sick citizens to participate in a vigorous data collection process that led to potential treatments for the virus. Dissimilar to America’s actions, Algeria leads the world in defying COVID-19 misinformation. It established call centers throughout many cities with singular purpose to managing rumors, reporting speculated cases, having physicians deliver the right information about the disease. Israel is among the world’s leaders in mass vaccinations. More than 58% of its population have been vaccinated. According to WHO’s Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard on this published day, Israel reported 731,037 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 5,417 deaths.

The future will be bright when we all work together to get this pandemic out of our world. There is no question that we have ways to go. But, as we circumnavigate our lives about this disease, we need to pay attention to lessons learned by experts, victims, and the government, as well as accept our personal responsibility to each other to slow the pandemic spread. As Georgians, we must continue to face mask, and social distance especially if we are lucky enough to be vaccinated. In all, it must be our collective duty to give confidence to the effectiveness of vaccination to communities that remember a tainted past.

Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Reuters, World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Dashboard

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dr. Adoo is a staff writer at CaraVita Home Care and an internationally recognized public health educator, management professional and social commentator. He consulted as a developmental disability professional and quality assurance expert for a community residential alternative companies throughout Georgia. He has served as a member of the editorial board of The Journal of the Georgia Public Health Association, a peer-reviewed publication addressing public and community health, health education and health promotion issues. Dr. Adoo was nominated as a Committee Member for former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue’s inaugural Rape Prevention Education Commission at a symposium sponsored by Kennesaw State University/A.L. Burruss Institute of Public Service and Research. He served as the “Smoke-free Pennsylvania” liaison to numerous agencies in response to tobacco-related class action settlement awarded to the State of Pennsylvania. He was designated by Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) as International Surveyor to serve underserved providers. He was nominated by developmental disabilities organizations in Georgia for the 2019 The Council on Quality and Leadership (CQLSM) Awards of Excellence for demonstrating excellence in the support of people with disabilities. He is the host of The Ability Project Podcast on Anchor® by Spotify® platforms. The “WHAT EMPLOYERS WANT” series is currently airing now, with listening audiences at U.S., Canada, UK, Ghana, St. Kitts and Nevis, Italy, Singapore, and Qatar.

If you or an aging loved-one is considering Elder Care Services in Roswell GA please contact the caring staff at CaraVita Home Care today. (770) 643-1712