The Best of Us
In some ways, COVID has brought out the best in us. I know of one family who, once a week cooks a supper large enough to share and then deliver meals to some single people who live in their neighbourhood. I hear lots of stories of people who are delivering groceries etc. to vulnerable people who shouldn’t leave their homes because of COVID. At our church, we have phone callers who reach out to everyone in our congregation to make sure that they are connected and doing okay in these trying times. There are many more examples!
Most of us are just doing what we can to make it through this pandemic, one day at a time. We limit our social contacts, we reach out to those we know who need some community, we try and follow the recommendations that Dr. Henry makes, we wear our masks, sanitize our hands and keep phoning and Zooming.
Some of us are getting a little nervous, dare I say scared, as we hear stories of variant streams of the virus wrecking havoc in places like Great Britain. We also realize that there is evidence of those same viruses present in BC and elsewhere across Canada. There are four different vaccines that Canada has purchased and as they are approved and manufactured, they are being given to Canadians to protect us and stop the spread of the virus. It is happening slower than we hoped for, but we live in hope and so are confident that one day, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-21 will be a thing of the past.
For the most part, we are delivering the vaccine to the most vulnerable first. I am so thankful for that. My mother lives in a care facility in Alberta and when they had a COVID outbreak in the staff and residents, I cannot describe how stressful it was knowing that if my mom, at 102, contracted COVID, her prognosis would not be good. The emotional and spiritual price she was paying, by being isolated in her room for over two months, was huge. It was with great relief that she received her second dose of the vaccine last week and will soon be considered “safe.”
It is not just seniors who are the most vulnerable to the virus. We see in many regions of the country, like the Peel area in Toronto and Surrey in the Lower mainland where many of our essential workers live, that they have a higher risk of being exposed. In Canada, many of our visible minorities are working in manufacturing, trucking, care homes, hospitals, food processing and service industries and they live in these high infection areas. We put them at risk because we need them to work to maintain our standard of living even during a pandemic. We might keep ourselves safe by shopping online but someone still has to make those goods, warehouse them, ship them, and then deliver them to our door. People in essential and service industries pay the price because not working is not an option for most of them. They should be high on our priority list to receive the vaccine.
There are also people who are already disadvantaged by poverty, living in high density homes, and possibly having lower immune responses due to ethnicity or the consequences of living in poverty. Many of them, such as our First Nation brothers and sisters also live far away from what we would consider adequate health care.
I have heard a number of people ask (they are really complaining) why vaccines are being delivered to Indigenous Communities first. They are upset – they think that these people should wait with the rest of us. The truth is; the compassionate way to distribute the vaccine is first to those, who are the most vulnerable to complications and death like seniors in care and Indigenous people.
During the “Black Lives Matter” protests, we were busy in Canada reminding ourselves that America was founded as a Nation immersed in racist policies and belief. Their history of racism haunts them even today. Racism is part of Canada’s fabric as well. Just because we are politer, doesn’t make us less racist. During these times of COVID, the divide between “the haves and have nots” becomes more visible than during ordinary times when “the haves” don’t believe that their sense of entitlement is being threatened.
Vaccines need to be distributed according to need – either vulnerable to death and extreme illness, or more likely to be exposed because of where people live and work. This may mean that middle-class workers who have the option of working from their home or a safe work environment will be vaccinated last. If that offends your sense of entitlement because you have trips to take and grandchildren to visit – sorry but you might want to check out one of my earlier blogs, What Would Jesus Do? What Would Jesus Do?
But there are signs of hope that racism will end, and as Christians that is how we live – as a people of hope. We should promote fair and equitable distribution of the vaccine based on risk and need, not race or social and economic standing, for that will help narrow the divide.
When I heard this music clip, from the Stellenbosch University Choir in South Africa, it filled me with hope. It is a collection of young people – a rainbow of colour from one of the most historically racist countries in the world who come together to make beautiful music as they sing the Lord's Prayer in Swahili. To me, this is how racism ends and a new humanity is born – one act of unity at a time. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.