COLUMN: Vaccination rate leaves much to be desired
'Shamefully embarrassing' is the perfect description to sum up our government's dismally lower rate of Covid-19 vaccination in the country.
‘Shamefully embarrassing’ is the perfect description to sum up our government’s dismally lower rate of Covid-19 vaccination in the country. By the end of December 2020, at least four varied vaccines were tangibly available on the global market. By September last year, our government had already set aside a multi-billion-rand special budget to purchase vaccines for the nation. But to date, a shameful 0,8% of South Africa’s adult population has received a single-dose vaccine. Out of a total population of over 60 million people, only 1,8 million of citizens have been inoculated with Covid-19 vaccine.
Multiple countries worldwide began their vaccination rollout as early as November 2020, but South Africa’s vaccinations only started very late in February 2021. From February to date, our country had managed to vaccinate a mere 1,8 million citizens, in a nation of over 60 million people. Actually, how did we arrive at this bottomless abyss of chronic incompetence?
Our nation has acclimatised to persistent acts of incompetence to a point whereby we are now wholly tolerant of abject failure. The country’s unjustifiable and dismally lower rates of Covid-19 vaccination are an abhorrent act of high treason. Needless to mention that the ruthless pandemic has killed over 57 000 citizens, and has already infected about 1,75 million compatriots. More speed, higher pace and great visionary wisdom are all we urgently need and expect from government.
In a spate of six weeks between May and June 2021, India zealously vaccinated 50 million citizens ranging from the age of 18 to 45 years. In total, the Indian government has dispensed vaccines to nearly 250 million of its citizens. The industrious China has already vaccined over 890 million of its citizens within the brief period of six months.
The super-powerful United States has impressively vaccinated more than 306 million Americans within a period of five months.
In just under six months, the Government of Brazil vaccinated over 78 million people of its citizens.
As a patriotic citizen, I furiously refuse to accept and tolerate this terribly slower pace and lacklustre rate of government’s vaccination rollout. A fatal concoction of idiocy, laziness and incompetence are accountable for the country’s snail-pace motion of Covid-19 vaccination.
