Toto Konco, Gugulethu
Nobody was given a chance to rehearse how to navigate life from 2020, it caught all of us by surprise and we were forced to adapt as the situation presented itself to us.
Since then, life was just never the same again and never will. As I write this, personally I have lost a lot of people in 2020 who were very close to me, including my dearest mother – may their souls forever rest in peace.
Given the urgent and catastrophic manner of pandemics, no one can blame us for being emotional but we need to think soberly moving forward. We cannot afford to make irrational decisions as that could prove to be more deadly than the pandemic itself, I am calling for cool heads now, we need to think rational.
Ultimately, we all need a vaccine that will prevent us from getting infected with this virus, however, we must not rush things and cut corners or else we’re going to pay with our dear lives. The development of a vaccine is long term, anything up to 10 years or more, due to complexities and rigorous testing processes that are involved, which are all absolutely necessary. I feel that due to immense pressure, these big Pharma companies cut certain corners to come up with a vaccine in a space of months. My prayer is that (for humanity sake) it works because if not, then we’re going to find ourselves in much greater trouble than we are currently.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not anti-vaccine, I have been vaccinated in my life from childhood against polio, smallpox, etc .. and I’m grateful for that because here am I today.
My plea to these big Pharma companies is that they must take the necessary time that is required to produce a vaccine that will withstand the test of time. I say it is better to bring an effective vaccine at a later stage than an ineffective one sooner.
I know that some people will attack me for saying this, because Covid-19 is an emotional issue, I understand that and have also been personally affected as I said but I cannot allow emotions to cloud my judgement. I always remove emotions when I make serious decisions in my life and this is no different.
Let us look at some of the facts that are staring at us: Covid-19 is a dynamic virus, forever evolving to a point even the top scientists confess that they learn something new every day about this virus. On the news, they are talking about a team of scientists that will be studying this vaccine to see if it can protect us from the second strain that we’ve had. Imagine that, some people are already vaccinated and there’s still some testing to be done. Secondly, not enough time-based testing was done, by that I mean even if the vaccine does not show any side effects now but you would administer it to enough people from different backgrounds over a certain period of time (usually three years) to see if nothing happens after some time while in your system. These are the different tests I’m talking about which are usually carried out in different phases of developing a vaccine.
Currently as things stand, one thing is certain about this virus, is that it will generate profits for the manufactures and everyone else in the supply chain. And because we are so emotional and fearful, we really don’t care if the vaccine has been thoroughly tested or not, and that is a dangerous attitude to adopt.
I have made a sober decision not to take it, until enough people have tested it for me; that is people who will be vaccinated this year and will see next year how they are responding before I make my decision – maybe in 2023 I will consider.
In the meantime, I am doing something no government official is talking about, and that is investing in some immune-boosting natural plants. In Africa we are blessed to have a wide variety of medicinal plants and roots, am learning from the knowledgeable folks and am doing my bit in ensuring that I keep my immune system at a peak level. I’ve been a bit lazy in the past few years and this pandemic gave me the much-required motivation to exercise again in ensuring that my system is where it should be health-wise.
I am amazed at the kind of data I’m getting from the initial research I have conducted, for instance the onion family – the health properties it has, leading to the garlic being called the natural antibiotic. The ginger plant is referred to at times as a tonic, the aloe plant in terms of what it provides your body with on a daily basis. I am told by the top leading scientist in the field of human nutrition that each day your body needs 114 different vitamins and nutrients and the aloe plant gives you about 60 of that 114 – I mean this plant should be a staple diet for us in South Africa.
Give your body a fighting chance for when it contracts this virus, this should be one more reason for you to invest in your health. There seems to be an over-reliance on pharmaceutical drugs while we are underplaying the importance of plant-based nutrition, am not sure who benefits from our ignorance.
Of course, we need to mask up and sanitise while keeping a social distance; it seems so basic but (due to a wide variety of factors) a lot of people are not doing it. Some people feel their lives are worthless as is, so you cannot scare them about potentially dying and in South Africa – inequality proves to be more of a challenge than Covid-19, which is a sad reality that we find ourselves in.
Over and above all that I have mentioned, you need to pray to your God, in life “you must believe in something much bigger than yourself”. Believe me when I say, in the greater scheme of things, you are not as big as you think you are – be humble and submit to a higher power.
Take care good people and keep safe, and may God bless you all.