Since December 2019, our well-being has been under serious attacks from a then relatively unknown adversary. The attacks which were on the surface only potentially physical quickly soared high on the wings and shoulders of the media and propagandists to gain unimaginable access to our mental and psychological wellbeing.
This, for most of us in the third world, is like losing every bit of clothing in the midst a of a biting winter wind. We got a plethora of scarily contradicting information from different sources while the governments ranted on ineptly about nothing in particular.
Well, when the dusts raised by fake news and information eventually settled, three groups of people are listed as the most vulnerable: the elderly, the children and people with certain illnesses. But from all indications and realities in most Third World countries, this is half-truth because the really most vulnerable group is left out and we may already be paying the price for this oversight.
Let’s look at the acknowledged vulnerable groups first:
(1) The children: The immunesystem grows with man, so children, understandably, have an immune system that is still nascent. This couples with the fact that they are our responsibilities; we owe them everything from feeding, educating, clothing, housing, to protection against all forms of violence or danger.
(2) The elderly: They’re vulnerable because ageing unavoidable depletes the human immune system and therefore leaves aged people susceptible to health problems like heart diseases, diabetes, lung conditions etc.
(3) People with certain illnesses: Thisgroup of people have got a ravaged immune system and can’t risk contracting Covid – 19. They understand this and know they are vulnerable as long as the illness they are suffering from is capable of bringing about complications if they contract coronavirus.
One good thing about these groups is that they acknowledge the dangers pose to them by Covid – 19 and try their best to stay safe.
Now, here comes my real concern;
(4) The innocently ignorant: This group of people constitutes the most vulnerable and poses the most potent threat to our collective wellness and well-being. You know why? Because they pull stunts that in the long run will put you and I at risks.
There are two sets of people in this group: those who think the virus is a hoax and those who think they’ve got a cure for the virus! The latter sub-group think the war is over. The two sets are equally dangerous. They have something in common – They believe governments create all the noise about the pandemic as a mere gimmick to syphon money from public purse.
And true to their claims, they daringly go about without observing social distancing or wear facemasks. They don’t wash their hands frequently or use alcohol-based hand-sanitizer as required. And are not even perturbed by the daily increasing figures of infections released by the government.
Most probably, some parts of the world have not seen this group of people but that doesn’t change anything as they continue exposing the whole mankind to this virus and jeopardising our chances of ever winning the war.
To compound my worries, among these people are politicians, educationists and even respected clergy men who people look up to for advice.
Can you see the danger?
Unfortunately, many writers and social commentators don’t see this danger. They don’t acknowledge the existence of this group. Of all the literature on coronavirus I’ve read (and I’ve read many), none mentioned this group.
But candidly speaking, these people are more vulnerable than the children and the elderly, and pose a higher degree of threat to all of us than any other problems we’ve ever known put together.
Whereas, research findings point to the fact that the human immune system can be boosted with the like of Elderberry Syrup, what can be done to boost the how we think and assess situations? Is there any drug that cures ignorance or that boost the immune system against ignorance?
While many would say ‘no’, I think the answer should be ‘yes’.
So how do we do that?
The first step is for the world must come together and officially acknowledge this group as vulnerable and dangerous. Then actions must be taken to make them take responsibilities for their own well-being in order to protect the well-being of all of us.
The second step is for the richer countries of the world to come to the aid of the poor ones to help them improve on public sensitisation and orientation so that they (the poor countries) don’t turn into fecund breeding grounds for covid-19 to the detriment of the whole world.