Is It A Numbers Game?

I blinked as Europe and US open up for summer festivities, concerts and of course, vacations. Oh how I wish to be able to catch a gig again! However, COVID-19 vaccination rates have also dropped off in both Europe and the US. Hmmm. Statewide lottery vaccination carrots have flopped. And the Delta variant is insidiously sweeping through states. 

The Atlantic's senior editor Daniel Engber examines the decline of vaccination rate in the US in an article titled 'Vaccination in America Might Have Only One Tragic Path Forward', published on July 20, 2021. He highlights the divide between Democrats and Republicans, and their sense of danger from the virus. 

The problem, it’s been said, is that we live in two Americas, riven by both ideology and immunology: In blue America, vaccination rates are standing up just fine; in red America, they’re slouchy and exposed. Indeed, the latest vaccine numbers show that 17 states have now provided at least one dose to more than 60 percent of their population—and every single one of them voted for Biden in the last election. Another 16 states are struggling to reach a rate of 50 percent; all but one of those went for Donald Trump.

But there’s another, better way to think about what’s happening here: If the distribution of vaccines keeps slowing down, it’s not because America is divided but because we’re running out of people who think vaccines will save their lives.

The society's risk perception is one of the factors in determining vaccine uptake. How do you fight fearmongering and deep seated beliefs? What's happening in America is also happening in Singapore. We're super small though, and super dense, so those numbers mean more. Our government isn't inclined to pay heed to what we want, and simply bulldoze their way through to do what they feel is right. The government wants ⅔ of Singapore vaccinated by National Day, coming up on August 9. We seem to be chugging along fine. However, we apparently have 200,000 unvaccinated seniors who are thoroughly recalcitrant.   

Vaccination has been touted as the only way out of pandemic lockdowns and restrictions. It's to be viewed a silver lining, so that people don't fall severely ill and over-burden the hospitals and the ICUs. Singapore got hurriedly shoved back into another lockdown known as 'back to Phase 2 Heightened Alert' (P2HA) with rather different rules and regulations as we battle mushrooming clusters and infection rates of people both vaccinated, and a large number, unvaccinated. 

The Straits Times has a pretty concise article on vaccination numbers in Singapore. It was put out on June 26, 2021, and has been updated every few days since. The latest update was on July 26, 2021, for figures that were firm on July 24, 2021. "We know more than 2.8 million people have been fully vaccinated as at July 19. This is 49 per cent of the total Singapore population."

I'm frustrated because the government has insisted on vaccination rates as a key to rolling back community restrictions. And we have people (young and older) not believing in the pandemic or understanding the seriousness of the situation. At some point, it's not about YOU. It's US. At this juncture, I'm like, if you don't have allergies or a valid medical reason to skip the vaccine, how about you stay at home and not go out. Or how about you just die? The biggest problem is, you don't just die. You take up precious ICU space at the hospitals, and end up infecting people before you die a painful death. It's bloody inconsiderate.  

its Times: Vaccination numbers updated as at July 26, 2021.
[Article and numbers are updated every few days.]

Our Ministers had to step up to the front to learn how to properly communicate with us. They had to explain exactly why this lockdown has to happen. This shifting goal-post doesn't sit well with me. I kinda get it, but I'm not pleased because a huge part of these new clusters have got to do with people refusing to wear masks properly, if at all. Being made to feel like I'm being punished for it too sucks. 

They tell us that this lockdown didn't happen because of the KTV cluster, but because of the Jurong Fishery Port cluster. COME ON. Don't treat us as if we're dumb. We're not ignoring the lapses in enforcement for the KTV clusters just because your enforcement agencies say that there's only so much enforcement can do if individuals don't blame their parts. Well yes. BUT. That's really a tone-deaf statement. Having our government set down pandemic restrictions just because a few of us misbehave shouldn't be the 'norm' for the final quarter of 2021 or a rinse-repeat-cycle in 2022.

When two-thirds of our population in Singapore have been vaccinated, then what? We treat COVID-19 like a common flu? What sort of restrictions will we then have? I'm suspicious of what comes after the vaccination numbers are hit. As statistics go, vaccination efficacy will drop, and booster shots would be needed, and likely, a new variant flares, and we go through the whole merry-go-round again?