Unvaccinated Tobago: spinning top in mud

The THA's hard line on breaches of home quarantine is a sensible response to the startling problem of people roaming freely around the island despite knowing they are infected with covid19.

Let’s hope Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis was deadly serious when he warned: "We will be establishing a quarantine facility that will treat with those persons who, for some reason, may find it difficult to remain in home quarantine."

Tobago is managing soaring numbers, with more than 500 active cases. Four hundred of them are supposed to be in quarantine at home. With four per cent of TT's population, Tobago is handling ten per cent of its cases.

With a close-knit community of 60,000, Tobago remains particularly vulnerable to covid19 spread, but a combination of low population numbers and a high availability of doses also means that at the current rate of vaccination capacity, the island could have been close to herd immunity in a week.

The THA initially hoped to vaccinate 45,000 people in seven days. Two months later, barely one-fifth of the population has received two shots and fewer than 18,000 have had their first shot. Student vaccination is also sluggish.

Meanwhile, of course, Tobago's covid19 death toll is also rising steadily, hitting 63 this week.

On Friday, Caribbean Public Health Authority's executive director Dr Joy St John issued the disheartening warning that with growing numbers of the virulent delta variant, attaining herd immunity may not happen until as much as 95 per cent of a population is vaccinated.

Tobago has so clearly run off the rails that an exasperated Mr Dennis fretted that active cases are "finding themselves at supermarkets shopping for groceries…at villa and zess parties, even."

A month ago, Progressive Democratic Patriots deputy leader Dr Faith BYisrael warned of the need for more stringent monitoring of asymptomatic patients in home isolation. Health Secretary Tracy Davidson-Celestine is also speaking out about the dangers that Tobagonians are actively courting.

The THA, partnering with the central government, must take a deep, analytical dive into why Tobagonians are being so determinedly lax about following isolation rules and so careless of the urgency and importance of being vaccinated.

Whether misinformation, ignorance or just wilfulness, the reasons for this self-destructive behaviour must be understood and addressed.

Every Tobagonian must be aware that their economy, heavily dependent on hospitality and in-person engagement, is being strangled by covid19 restrictions.

Because of their lackadaisical attitude, beaches and restaurants remain closed, and even if those restrictions were lifted – who will pay to visit an island where their rooms are cleaned and their food cooked and served by unvaccinated people?

Mr Dennis's annoyance is understandable. But instead of fulminating about dangerous behaviour, he needs to help the people he leads understand the extend of the wound they are inflicting on themselves and guide them to more sensible and more profitable choices.