EDITORIAL
The Politics of COVID-19 Just as the holiday season starts, a new COVID-19 virus variant, namely omicron, is spreading worldwide and impacting economies struggling to recover from the pandemic that began nearly two years ago. Reportedly, the first incidents of the omicron variant were cited in South Africa. As a result, President Joe Biden expeditiously halted all air travel from eight southern African countries into the U.S., except for U.S. citizens. “As a precautionary measure until we have more information, I am ordering additional air travel restrictions from South Africa and seven other countries,” Biden announced Monday. These new restrictions went into effect on November 29 and include: Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Had the U.S. taken such immediate action when COVID-19 was first reported in Wuhan, China, over a year ago, some suggest the global spread of the deadly virus would have been minimized. But that didn’t immediately happen and African political and health leaders indicate that politics drove these decisions. Dr. Ayoade Olatunbusun-Alakija, co-chair, Africa Vaccine Delivery Alliance, said in a BBC interview, “Had the first COVID-19 virus, the one first identified in China last year, originated in Africa, it is clear the world would have locked us away and thrown away the key.” Dr. Alakija went on to say that no one should be surprised that a variant occurred in Southern Africa. “What is going on right now is inevitable,” she said. “It is a result of the world’s failure to vaccinate in an equitable, urgent and speedy manner. It is the result of hoarding [of vaccines] by high-income countries in the world. And, quite frankly, it is unacceptable. These travel bans are based on politics and not on science, and it is wrong.” South African President Cyril Ramaphosa echoed her concerns and said his country is being punished for detecting and informing global health authorities about the omicron variant. Dr. Anthony Fauci reported Tuesday that 226 cases of the omicron COVID-19 variant had been found in 20 countries, including Canada. A Dutch health agency also reported that the omicron variant was in the Netherlands a week before it was reported in South Africa. We recognize the double standard applied to Africa, related to a travel ban and the higher cost of vaccines, vaccine hesitancy and structural barriers preventing African countries from reaching their goal of vaccinating 40 percent of their populations by the end of this year. And we agree with Dr. Alakija that “until everyone is vaccinated, no one is safe.” It is wrong to single out Africa when a global response is required. WI
Rising Homicide Rates Indicate a Nation in Mental Distress Another tragic and senseless shooting took place in Oxford, Michigan earlier this week – this time at the hands of a 15-year-old student, now in custody, who killed three students and injured eight others including a teacher. And as one can expect, politicians will issue statements expressing their condolences and saying such nonsensical statements like “we mourn the loss of these students and teachers,” or “you are in our prayers.” Of course, we use the term “nonsensical” loosely because prayer always matters and lending one’s support to others in time of need remains essential within the framework of the human family. Nonetheless, examples like these have become so commonplace that they only dominate the news cycle and social media for a few days before becoming footnotes on the pages of life. Meanwhile, homicide rates in D.C., Baltimore County and many other metropolitan areas remain on track to exceed rates not recorded since 2019. We know that guns don’t kill people – people kill people. Still, the real question that remains unanswered is why are we seeing this ominous spike in homicides? Baltimore County officials attribute the rise to behavioral health-related incidents and killings resulting from domestic abuse. However, we believe that the stress placed on Americans because of the pandemic has also led to the homicidal frenzy which continues to plague the nation.
TO THE EDITOR Season’s Greetings!
Shifting Opinions
I want to tell my favorite newspaper happy holidays! It's indeed been a joy reading The Washington Informer all of these years. I get so much out of it, so I wanted to let you all know to keep up the great work.
I'm not sure why every 10 years, people get all worked up over redistricting. As populations grow, there must be adjustments. Why would one ward have 30,000 folks and the next 200,000? It doesn't make sense. Though it may feel unfair, redistricting is necessary, in my opinion.
Linda Maynard Washington, D.C.
People are hurting everywhere in cities big and small. People need help. And people need assistance and direction in developing solutions that will help them solve or at least alleviate the problems that seem to be so overwhelming, mentally and emotionally. Shooting classmates in a high school, at-
WWW.WASHINGTONINFORMER.COM / THE WASHINGTON INFORMER
tacking innocent people at Metro stations or at ATM machines or aiming bullets into a crowd of strangers in a drive-by shooting are all inappropriate actions and do nothing but exacerbate the problems we collectively face. It’s time to stop the madness. And it can be done, one person at a time. WI
DECEMBER 2 - 8, 2021 25
