EDI TO R I A L UP FRONT GERARD MOLONEY CSsR
THE COVID CHALLENGE
It's
hard to believe a year has passed since COVID-19 first shut down the country and the world. It's been a long 12 months. In those first frightening days last March, the spirit of national solidarity was striking. Few complained about the closure of schools, pubs and restaurants, or the need to wear face masks. Few complained when the money-spinning St Patrick's Day festivities were called off. We were all in this together. United, resolute, determined, we would confront and defeat this existential threat to our lives and livelihoods, as we had done with Foot and Mouth more than once in the past. The sense of common purpose was palpable and galvanising. The surreal quiet of cities and towns suddenly devoid of traffic; streets and footpaths without pedestrians; shop fronts shuttered; traffic lights signalling forlornly to themselves. Only the tumbleweed was lacking. It was a scene eerie but reassuring, apocalyptic but calm. The virus would not defeat us. And our efforts seemed successful. The number of casualties and fatalities were relatively low, at least when compared with our neighbours. The economy had taken a major hit, and the rhythm and routine of life had been severely disrupted, but we had survived, or so we thought. Then the second wave came, and the third. This third time around, as schools and pubs, restaurants and shops once again locked up and shut down, the spirit of defiance and resolution of last spring began to waver. Weariness and frustration grew. Morale dimmed. Tempers frayed. Solidarity loosened. It was harder to keep our chins up and our jaws firm, even as we shielded them behind the obligatory face masks. And while most people here and abroad heeded expert advice and observed the
restrictions, often at significant cost, others grew more resistant, reckless, recalcitrant, heedless of regulations, determined to do their own thing. The past year has been a study in contrasts. We have witnessed the extraordinary selflessness and dedication of care providers and essential workers, many of them poorly paid, working long hours and long weeks, at risk to themselves and their loved ones, routinely going beyond the call of duty— heroes and heroines at their best. But also over the past year, and especially during the third wave, we have witnessed extraordinary acts of selfishness and recklessness, people heedless of their responsibility towards others, disdainful of guidelines and official advice, casual and contemptuous in their behaviour, showcasing rugged individualism at its worst. Media have reported on how some well-off people are finding nefarious ways to skip to the front of the coronavirus vaccine line. In early March, a story broke about a wealthy Canadian casino executive Rod Baker and his wife who broke quarantine and flew to a remote Indigenous community where they posed as local motel employees to get their jabs. They displayed utter contempt for those less fortunate and more vulnerable than themselves. Well-off countries are behaving in a similar selfish fashion. According to a group of charities including Oxfam International, huge inequalities have emerged in the worldwide rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine. "Wealthier nations have bought up enough doses to vaccinate their entire populations nearly three times over by the end of 2021," the group says. "Rich nations representing just 14 percent of the world's population have bought up 53 percent of all the most promising vaccines so far." Ireland, of course, ranks among the rich nations.
And within the wealthier nations, poorer people and minorities – the ones most likely to contract the virus - are also the ones most likely to be at the back of the queue to be vaccinated. There is no hope of eliminating or containing the COVID-19 virus unless and until peoples and nations everywhere have access to vaccines and act responsibly. Unless and until they do, any talk about all of us being in this together is as empty and hollow as it sounds. This health crisis, like every crisis, has brought out the best and the worst in us. Thank God, there are far more good people than bad, far more selfless people than selfish, far more rational people than those deluded by wild conspiracy theories. We must not be afraid to call out selfish, racist, reckless behaviour when we see it. But we must also celebrate the selfless love and generosity of those whose goodness always shines brightest when we need it the most.
Gerard Molonry CSsR Acting Editor
11
