Not yet Uhuru. The First batch of Frontline workers and vulnerable citizens (elderly and terminally ill/persons with underlying ailments) have received their first dose of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine in the UK and US. But there are still inequities in the distribution and availability of the vaccine.
Most rich countries in the EU, UK and US have ordered tens of millions of doses of the vaccine leaving many low income countries in Africa and Asia exposed to the risks of infection and the vagaries of the covid 19 pandemic. Mutations and surges in new infections have been spotted and recorded in the UK and SA. There is a need to bridge the widening gap between peoples and countries. The pre-existing inequities have become more apparent and made living in the covid 19 pandemic extremely hard and expensive for poor countries and individuals . There is a pressing need, as a public health emergency, to urgently make vaccines available to the world to speed up recovery and sustainable growth and development in a greener, cleaner and equitable world.
Some Big businesses (e-commerce and internet coys) thrived during this pandemic but many micro and small businesses faced mass extinction. Outpacing the unemployment and insolvency figures of the 2008/2009 global financial crisis.
The WHO and UN is at the fore front of galvanizing global collaborative efforts to address this public health emergency and global financial crisis. Big Businesses and Rich countries have an economic and moral obligation to do more to resolve the crisis and ease the effects of existing inequities. US just approved an additional $900 Billion Stimulus package as death tolls cross the 300,000+ mark. Times are really tough. The death and economic devastation is colossal.
I charge that we all stay strong, stay safe and do our part as individuals, corporations and countries to trump the pandemic (no pun intended). We are all in this together.