Spinning the Covid Response

As of the 17th August we have been back in lockdown at level 4 in response to the arrival on our shores of the Delta Variant of Covid 19.

With monotonous regularity we see our Prime Minister appearing on TV to give out the good news and then give out the information we should get.

The good news is just the spin doctor’s ravings dressed up to look like this government has got things under control when in fact the truth of the matter is that they are far from having things under control.

We are constantly being told how many people are booked to, or have had, the first vaccination and while this figure may be true it actually means nothing.

It’s useless information designed to make us believe that the government has this outbreak under control and is doing a great job when in actual fact they are scrambling to catch up.

Why have we not had the majority of our population vaccinated by now?

It doesn't matter how many people have booked for their vaccinations as a booking doesn't protect them. The protection comes after people have been vaccinated twice.

Putting the country back into lockdown was the right move, once the Delta variant was discovered in the community.

The Government’s management of this crisis has generally been ok, but they need to stop trying to put a spin on the vaccination programme to look good.

Our vaccination programme has up till now been far from a success.

Just over 1 million people are now fully vaccinated or about 21% of the population. About another 16% of the population has had one jab.

That’s really not great. Within the OECD, a club of 38 generally high-income democracies, we’re in last place based on the percentage of the population that has received a vaccination. Second-to-last is Colombia.

New Zealand is not last in the world. We are closer to the middle of the pack

Unlike the promises made in 2020 we are far from the top of the list of countries that have vaccinated their populations.

Meanwhile the Delta variant is in the community and many of us who are at risk shouldn't be.

The Government knows it dropped the ball on the vaccine rollout, so they're desperate to spin that they haven't.

Therefore every time we see a Covid news bulletin from the government, we are being given good news and reports of daily records being reached at the beginning of each bulletin, useless information designed to make us believe that the government has this outbreak under control.

Most people are not the least bit interested in listening to the government spin, they just want to know how many cases there are in the community and what/where are the locations of interest so that they can identify whether they have possibly been exposed to the virus.

This information is critical for people to identify whether they may have been exposed to an active case and if they need to be tested and self-isolate.

Putting this type of good news spin on things is part of politics but in relation to the situation we are in, with community transmission of the virus at the present time, it is shameless of the government to be thinking about their profile before giving vital information to the population to allow them to make these decisions.

Andy Loader

© Scoop Media