Huge US virus death toll an avoidable fallout

One man can change the course of a nation, the direction of history, the fate of its people. Donald Trump’s devil-may-care attitude towards tackling the coronavirus, considered in some quarters as divine wrath upon a wicked planet, has cost the country very dear. As of now, 300,000 peope have died, a staggering figure for the world’s beacon of democracy.

The United States kicked off a mass vaccination drive hoping to turn the tide on the world’s biggest coronavirus outbreak.

New York nurse Sandra Lindsay became the first person in America to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech shot, live on television, six days after Britain launched the West’s vaccine campaign against COVID-19.

“It didn’t feel any different from taking any other vaccine,” said Lindsay, a critical care nurse at the Long Island Jewish Medical Centre, imploring all Americans to “to do our part” by getting vaccinated.

“I hope this marks the beginning of the end of the very painful time in our history,” she added.

However, with the number of virus cases showing no inclination to reduce, the road to recovery seems a long, long way off. The start of the desperately awaited vaccine programme coincided with several European countries announcing new lockdowns.

The vaccinations come at one of the darkest phases of the pandemic. Health experts are still struggling to deal with the Cassandras of the vaccine, lockdown fatigue and uneven adherence to safety rules.

On Monday, the Netherlands was preparing to enter its strictest lockdown since the pandemic began, Britain announced new restrictions on London.

The US – which has the globe’s highest death toll, and the largest number of reported cases at 16.3 million –passed 300,000 deaths just hours after the vaccinations began, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.

“First Vaccine Administered. Congratulations USA! Congratulations WORLD!” President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter earlier in the day, while President-elect Joe Biden tweeted “Stay hopeful – brighter days ahead.”

Vaccinations also took place in Pennsylvania and Ohio, while Canada administered its first dose to a caregiver in Montreal.

Delivery trucks with special refrigeration equipment are rolling out across America, as part of a public-private plan to ship millions of doses of the newly approved Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine to vulnerable Americans.

Courier services FedEx and UPS have deployed fleets of trucks and planes to carry their precious cargo – sometimes under armed guard – to all 50 states, where health care workers and nursing-home residents are first in line. In October, President Donald Trump’s exhortation to Americans “to get out there” and not fear COVID-19 as he returned to the White House after a three-night hospital stay to be treated for the virus, appeared to ring hollow.

Trump has played down a disease that has killed more than a million people worldwide.

“Don’t let it dominate you. Don’t be afraid of it,” Trump said in a recorded video message. “We’re going back, we’re going back to work. We’re going to be out front. ... Don’t let it dominate your lives. Get out there, be careful.”

This sounds nothing but a pompous boast, a supposedly feel good rhetoric with no leg to stand on. Trump has repeatedly flouted social-distancing guidelines meant to curb the virus’ spread. He also mocked Biden for wearing a mask at events, even when he is far from others. This was in stark contrast to the new President-elect, who was well aware of the seriousness of the disease and emphasised the importance of wearing masks.

America has to pull itself up by its bootstraps. But it will be some time before it can shake itself off from the damaging fallout of the policies of a man whose creed is ‘I, Me, Myself.’