Middle NZ: Listen to the scientists

Trust the scientists when it comes to information about the Covid-19 vaccination. Photo / NZME

OPINION

Let's stop talking about politics. That's what I said when I meet the schoolgirls for morning tea on Monday.

We were sitting in a cafe and just like everywhere else at the moment the talk turned to Covid, wastewater results and, of course, the vaccinations.

One of them said vaccination had put a divide between her and some friends. She's not the only one.

All of us are fully vaccinated but the minute you mention vaccination to anyone things can quickly get heated.

I admit that when vaccinations were first talked about I was hesitant. But the thing is I trust scientists, I don't want our hospitals to become overwhelmed and I want to be able to travel as soon as possible.

Our hospital is already working at near full capacity. Imagine dozens, or even hundreds, of Covid patients presenting every day.

Imagine the doctors and nurses, already pushed to their limits, trying to cope with that.

The DHB does, of course, have a plan but data sent to National Party deputy leader and health spokesman Dr Shane Reti last month stated that through parliamentary questions it shows the region's ICU occupancy percentage reached capacity 11 times between August 24 and September 13, and exceeded it three times.

This meant the Hawke's Bay DHB reached ICU capacity on 14 of the 39 days reported in the data - or 36 per cent - the most in the country.

I doubt there would be many people living in this region who don't know how incredibly busy our hospital already is.

I've been in there a few times when a Code Red has been announced over the intercom which means there are not enough staff or resources to meet demand - resulting in long waits in the emergency department for non urgent patients.

I've lost count of the number of stories we have published over the years urging people to go to their GP and not the ER unless it was an emergency.

Remember the awful television footage in the early days of the pandemic of hospitals around the world overwhelmed and rows and rows of graves.

Linda Hall is assistant editor of Hawke's Bay Today.

I don't understand why some people believe it's all a hoax. Good grief more than five million people worldwide have died from the virus.

So, for me in the end, the decision to get vaccinated was easy. It will land in Hawke's Bay sooner rather than later.

I do feel for Aucklanders. They have been through, and are still going through, an extremely tough time.

I think back to when my children were at primary school and I was working and try to imagine working from home while trying to organise four children to go online and get some home schooling.

Oh hang on — that would have been impossible. We didn't even have one computer let alone one for each of them and one for me to work from home on.

How far technology has come. How far science has come with the help of technology.
How much more knowledge scientists have available to them today.

Don't wait until Covid comes knocking — protect yourself and your family and community now. Trust the science, then we can all just get on with living.

- Linda Hall is assistant editor of Hawke's Bay Today.