Good morning peeps, I got back home just in time, before Omicron takes over.
It first surfaced November 11th, then it went like wild fire around the globe. The last I checked it spread from 14 countries to 50 countries in the span of 24 hours.
Last week, on November 26th, the World Health Organization called it a ‘variant of concern’ and gave it its name instead of just referring to it as B.1.1.529.
We know it’s highly contagious, we hope the vaccines hold up against it – we’ll know exactly in about two-week time, and we believe it only causes mild illness, also to be confirmed down the road when science finishes probing, multiplying the virus in labs and pouring it over samples from vaccinated and recovered individuals.
Things were going well. I got on KLM here November 15th, with just my proof of vaccination, they did not want to see my test results, upon return less than two weeks later they wanted to see everything, my green eligibility tag, my test results and my vaccination certificate.
Omicron contains over 50 mutations, most of them in the spike protein that helps it attach to our cells, which make this version of the virus especially interesting. The theory is that it lay dormant somewhere, in one untreated person, probably in Africa and it had time to replicate and gather mutations, for about 18 months, before hitting the road.
What have we learned?
That it doesn’t matter if we are all vaccinated and boosted, IF Third World countries have no vaccines. We must vaccinate the planet.
Countries in Africa had very little access to vaccines, and the result is a crazy virus mutation, and loads of sick people. It’s the second virus version to come out of southern Africa where the virus meets plenty of unprotected people, ripe for infection.
It was a good decision by GOA to make vaccinates available to all local residents, documented and undocumented. I hope everyone sees the point, that it is pointless to be selfish, and hoard resources for the benefit of the First World, when the Third World is so vulnerable, a Covid19 petri dish.
What I found in Aruba is pretty much the same, civil servants can hardly get paid, nurses get salary cuts, the Parliamentarians flew out, Business Class, with all the perks, to some obscure meeting in the Netherlands, in spite of GOA’s explicit decision to restrict travel.
Arubus is still operating giant empty buses, burning fossil fuel, the dump is still illegal and on fire, the Labor Unions are clamoring over the 12,6% reductions, and their protests are getting louder, GOA has no money, Bubali plant is still overflowing, and we see no realistic prospect of money from the Netherlands — 2,700 FASE recipients, 7,500 loonsubsidie recipients, no longer receiving aid.
We have to ask the question why nothing get done here?
