Beware dangers of Covid-19 burnout

 

By now we have all heard of vaccine side effects such as pain at the spot of the injection, aches, tiredness, shortness of breath, even myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle) and pericarditis (inflammation of the lining outside the heart) and blood clots.

We have also heard of the side effects of the booster jab and that there is vaccine hesitancy all over the world, not just in Malaysia.

But last week, I heard the strangest side effect of a booster dose: divorce.

A woman who was participating in an anti-vaccine protest outside New Zealand’s Parliament declared on live television that she was leaving her husband because he had taken a booster jab.

According to a report in Australia’s The Advertiser, the unidentified woman told 1 News: “I’m leaving my husband. He got the booster today. He’s gone. I don’t want anything to do with him on Feb 10.”

More and more people in several western countries have taken to the streets recently to protest against vaccination mandates and strict restrictions on their lives imposed by governments trying to control the spread of the disease that has killed more than 5.8 million people and infected more than 412 million worldwide.

Malaysians have not taken to the streets but that does not mean there is no frustration or anger over the manner in which the authorities have gone about implementing certain policies. But I wouldn’t discount the frustration spilling onto the streets if the authorities aren’t careful with their actions.

People feel they have had enough of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and its variants dictating their lives. After more than two years of suffering, they don’t want the disease to control their behaviour any longer, especially since 97.5% of adults are said to have been vaccinated.

Many are feeling the effects of Covid fatigue or burnout. That is why we are willing to take more risks today than we did about a year ago.

Initially, we were all afraid but with assurances that the vaccines are working coupled with the long-duration under the over-lordship of Covid-19, we have become exhausted or complacent or both. And frustrations are building up inside. More Malaysians have become poorer and a substantial number have lost jobs. Some families are unable to cope and an increasing number of people are suffering from psychological problems.

Life must go on. We need to put food on the table, we need to work. Also, we are social animals. We can’t stay indoors for long.

Increasingly, people are not motivated to follow public health guidelines.This can be seen, for instance, in people doing almost everything they did in pre-pandemic days – only now they do it wearing masks. Also, social or physical distancing does not seem to matter anymore, except in official environments.

And we’ve all seen how some politicians and supporters of candidates in recent state elections have been throwing caution to the winds, the latest being defence minister Hishammuddin Hussein – in the runup to the Johor state elections.

Many have become desensitised to the number of daily deaths and Covid-19 cases. This is partly because there is hardly any family which has not had at least one person being infected. And more than a few families have lost one or more loved ones to the disease.

Official figures show that more than 32,000 Malaysians have died of Covid-19 and the total number of Malaysians infected has crossed the 3 million mark.

Also, because health experts and the government keep insisting that being vaccinated protects them against getting severe Covid-19, people have tended to take it easy. This is especially the case with those who have had booster shots, as I found out in my conversations. They, and those who have recovered from the disease, think they are immune or that the virus will have minimal effect on them.

I am afraid I notice a false sense of security, partly due to the type of messages from health experts and government officials regarding Covid-19 vaccination, partly due to reports that the Omicron virus causes less severe disease, but largely due to pandemic burnout.

Covid burnout, I believe, is one reason why an increasing number of countries are relaxing restrictions and allowing people to return to as much normalcy as possible.

Britain, Denmark, Austria, Ireland and the Netherlands are among the nations that recently lifted most of their Covid-19 restrictions. Some countries have even dropped the vaccination certificates for entry into various places such as eateries and large events.

Our authorities should loosen more controls too, and tailor their actions in accordance with the understanding that Covid fatigue is a natural response. It’s not all about the vaccination programme anymore.

Rather than threatening people, the authorities should enforce only those restrictions that are absolutely necessary to reduce risk and allow people to live their lives as normally as they want.

Nobody likes to be threatened. Nobody likes to be forced. A good government will understand this. People expect the authorities to engage them in seeking solutions, especially on ways to live with the disease.

Citizens also expect transparency from the authorities, apart from sympathy.

Importantly, they expect consistency in the way restrictions and penalties are applied. They especially don’t want double standards when it comes to the ordinary person and VIPs or between opposition lawmakers and government lawmakers.

They also don’t want certain groups in government to push through their agendas using cover of the pandemic.

The authorities should refer to the recommendations of the World Health Organization which says governments should, among other things, “acknowledge and address the hardship people experience and the profound impact the pandemic has had on their lives”.

WHO notes that wide-ranging restrictions may not be feasible for everyone in the long run and calls on governments to “collect and use evidence for targeted, tailored and effective policies, interventions and communication”.

It suggests that governments “find ways to meaningfully involve individuals and communities at every level” and “be as consistent as possible in messages and actions, and avoid conflicting measures”.

WHO goes on to recommend: “Understand which measures may be unbearable in the long term. Amend or balance such restrictions with other measures (economic, social, psychological), taking into account the epidemiological risk.

“Appeal to people rather than blame, scare or threaten them. Recognise that everyone is contributing,” it tells governments.

WHO adds: “To trust authorities, people need to feel that all relevant opinions have been included and that decisions have been based on objective criteria, not on arbitrary grounds or the interests of certain groups.”

The public should bear in mind that the danger is not over. Do what you have to do, but don’t be lulled into a false sense of security.

Vaccinated or not, we still need to follow the recommendations made by health authorities, such as practising physical distancing, wearing a well-fitting three-layer mask, cleaning our hands before putting on and taking off a mask, avoiding crowded places and poorly ventilated indoor locations, and opening windows when indoors to increase the amount of outdoor air. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.