We are caught up in a wild raging tizzy, not of excitement and optimism, but of mounting uncertainty and desperation. Last week, excitement levels swirled, thanks to the much-anticipated roof-raising announcement that invited the 45 to 54 age-bracket for COVID-19 vaccine inoculation. The flaring positive storm quickly fizzled into a feeble damp squib when a ‘retraction,’ for many people sounding more like an anticlimactic afterthought, came through, advising about the shortage of vaccines. The nation has now descended into a raucous state of anxiety.
After a visibly shaken and apologetic nurse at Matebeleng Clinic informed me, as early as 9am, that they had reached their day’s threshold of 100 people, I found myself overstrung by emotions, struggling to maintain a rational demeanour and wondering whether the nation was briskly sliding down the failure curve. My expectation was that the clinic would be busy for another nine hours. Verklempt, I nearly gave in to pressure to melt and flow with the crowd, wondering whether the relevant ministry’s left hand had no idea what the right was doing.
