By the end of the year, New Zealand Government intends to have 90% of the population vaccinated against COVID-19.

At the beginning of this mass-vaccination effort, one may recall, many people were vociferous in their denigration of the New Zealand Government, claiming ‘the vaccination rollout is shambolic/is behind schedule/is going too slow…’, when in fairness, at the time, regarding COVID-19, New Zealand was far better positioned than most; unlike much of the world, other than what we were allowing through our border, there was no COVID in the country and our comparatively sparse population meant that even if one day we did relapse, again unlike much of the world, the virus was not going to be impossible to eradicate.

Here is an interesting truth which I suspect many of our Kiwi malcontents have never considered: New Zealand is a country with so little genuine hardship that, in your mal-contented little brain, the above non-issue is of a positively ruinous magnitude; channelling a similar vein is the ‘hardship’ Kiwis face during a Level 4 Lockdown situation where, upon resumption of First World freedoms, first thing many want to do is buy fast food and coffee – not dress severed limbs of dying family members or scour rubble for loved ones’ bodies but buy takeaways – because this is the reality of New Zealand hardship.

Here is another interesting truth: New Zealand is nearing the 80% vaccinated threshold but, even with just 20% of the nation unvaccinated thus susceptible to COVID-19’s full wrath, the New Zealand healthcare system could be inundated by this illness; this reality is unlikely as it is doubtful that every unvaccinated person will contract a severe case of COVID requiring hospitalisation, but Government has to work with worst case scenarios because, should the worst happen and they were unprepared, well, we have a fair idea what the malcontents would say about that.

Yet another noteworthy piece of candour: New Zealand’s unvaccinated 20% will comprise largely ‘anti-vaxers’ and are likely that same group of mal-contented, conspiracy-forming, politically disinterested idiots who, just months earlier, were complaining about the Government making such a shambles of vaccination distribution.

Additionally ironic, those groups first approached by Government to ‘get vaccinated’ because they were more at risk of severe illness if afflicted with COVID-19 – the immuno-compromised/Polynesian/Pasifika – were largely the same groups who caused delays in the beginning of the vaccination process due to much of the Pasifika community believing that ‘God will protect them’ thus holding an ‘anti-vax’ stance which presented vaccine distributors with interminable administration woes as appointments were made for people with zero intention of showing.

Ultimately the reason 90 rather than 80% of Kiwis need to be vaccinated, after each of that remaining 20% do contract COVID and inevitably choose to burden New Zealand’s free healthcare service with whimpering pleas of breathing difficulties, is so that our country’s health system will continue to cope.

Bearing in mind the aforementioned, if much of that remaining 20% is in fact composed of anti-vaxers, this does not need to be an issue; instead of taking a vaccination shot, these people need to be offered a waiver, where their signature will declare that, should they contract COVID-19, they will stay home, they will get plenty of rest, do no heavy lifting, drink plenty of fluids and deal with their illness on their own terms.

Manmade or otherwise, this pandemic is no conspiracy; COVID-19 is a virus and we humans are adept at handling viruses.

Article by Tim Walker

Edited by R D Apt

Photography by Vera S Handler