Only vaccinated being evacuated from St. Vincnent

[millenialblush]

abc7.com/volcano-in-st-vincent-erupts-as-thousands-evacuate-/10501485/

Has the world gone utterly mad? The PM of st. Vincent has said that only the vaccinated can board evacuation cruise ships or be granted temporary status to stay on other islands during the massive volcanic eruption.

This is the 2-tier society in all its glory.

@picklemewalnuts

The last thing an area experiencing a natural disaster needs is a Covid outbreak fuelled by over crowding.

But surely cramming all the unvaccinated into the small safe areas is only going to make that more likely?

What @Moondust001 said

Stop with the hysteria. Those that are vaccinated will move off the is,and, to allow those that are not more room at the facilities in the safe areas

No doubt if the whole island needs evacuating then they will be taken off

There is nothing about a 2 tier society just common sense and responsible behaviour in the middle of a world wide pandemic

Jeez, who'd be an administrator/emergency planner? However hard and long you work you get slated by the offended armchair critics who have no idea of the actual facts.

OPs previous posts on the vaccine are eye opening.

@picklemewalnuts

The last thing an area experiencing a natural disaster needs is a Covid outbreak fuelled by over crowding.

Exactly. It makes sense to use the space and resources and limiting the spread is the responsible thing to do where it’s possible

Gonsalves added that he highly recommends those who opt to go to a shelter in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an island chain of more than 100,000 people, be vaccinated.

The key word there is recommended, not mandating as you are implying. From the very beginning of the pandemic, we know how a person infected with covid aboard a cruise ship goes down and it doesn’t end well. When we are also talking about shelters, which are cramped conditions and breeding grounds for diseases and viruses, it also makes sense to send the vaccinated there so you don’t have Covid ripping through the shelter. The other Caribbean islands are also offering shelter to the inhabitants of the island, they aren’t going to do that if it’s going to out their own populations at a significant chance of being affected by Covid. One of the islands taking in refugees is St Lucia and we were planning on travelling there last May. We followed the news very carefully while waiting to hear if our holiday would be cancelled. They closed their borders very early on because even though they’re heavily reliant on tourism, they do not have the hospital infrastructure to cope with Covid.

OP definitely being unreasonable trying, and failing, to create faux outrage...

...so you think dividing by vaccinated and unvaccinated is reasonable?

Absolutely, it would be very unreasonable not to.
People have got enough to worry about with the volcanic erupting without the risk of catching covid as well.

@lidoshuffle

Jeez, who'd be an administrator/emergency planner? However hard and long you work you get slated by the offended armchair critics who have no idea of the actual facts.

Me, me me. I loved it. I'm 63 and if it weren't for having been hit by very bad arthritis five years ago (I have little mobility now), I would probably have been volunteering to go days ago. But you are right, it's not remotely romantic and people have no idea what it is like. You absolutely know that you will literally make life and death decisions all the time, every day. You know that you can't help everyone, so you will have to pick some - and that by doing that you probably condemn others. That you will stand over the graves of people - in some cases mass graves. You have to have nerves of steel whilst still caring. But I would not trade one second of the very worst moments of any of it. Because it's the ones that you save, the lives that you touch, and the futures you protect that matter. It's actually, in my opinion, the best job in the world!

Omfg the world has officially gone insane!! If this isn’t the ultimate in ‘only COVID lives matter’ anymore then I don’t know what is!

When in the history of ever have people been left in an unsafe zone due to a natural disaster in case a virus goes round the displaced people? It’s even par for the course that there is often a follow on risk from water and insect borne diseases like malaria and cholera after a natural disaster and that must be dealt with separately. However, that still doesn’t mean that hoards of people are left behind in the danger zone because of the risks of those diseases. It’s utterly disgraceful and I can’t believe that the last year of mind conditioning has worked enough for a few posters to not find anything wrong with this approach

Simply WHEN are people going to wake up and push back?

oh Lostinacloud have you even read the thread they are in a safe zone btw - not sure anyone would advise moving to an unsafe zone

here is a zoned map of areas in St Vincent.
www.researchgate.net/figure/Large-format-1722-inches-A2-map-of-integrated-volcanic-hazard-zones-for-the_fig5_324652376

@Moondust001 sounds like you did a great thing shame about the crappy arthritis (I have RA so can definitely empathise)
My Aunt worked for UNHCR when she was alive and had to make lots of really really difficult decisions as part of her job. I asked her once how she did it and she said because although you can't save everyone you can make a real difference to some and that's better than none. All you can do is try your best.

They aren't just going to abandon the unvaccinated people. Just they need a different strategy to help prevent them catching covid

Where has OP gone?

Presume this is the first emergency position - if things get worse suppose people will have had time to bring in large vessels such as a US aircraft carrier to evacuate the island.

@Lostinacloud

Omfg the world has officially gone insane!! If this isn’t the ultimate in ‘only COVID lives matter’ anymore then I don’t know what is!

When in the history of ever have people been left in an unsafe zone due to a natural disaster in case a virus goes round the displaced people? It’s even par for the course that there is often a follow on risk from water and insect borne diseases like malaria and cholera after a natural disaster and that must be dealt with separately. However, that still doesn’t mean that hoards of people are left behind in the danger zone because of the risks of those diseases. It’s utterly disgraceful and I can’t believe that the last year of mind conditioning has worked enough for a few posters to not find anything wrong with this approach

Simply WHEN are people going to wake up and push back?

Simply WHEN are people going to find out some facts without spouting bloody nonsense???

Everyone in the danger zone is being moved to safety in a risk assessed way. They are calling them "SAFE" areas because they are not danger areas. You understand?

In camps malaria risk is often better managed than it is in day to day life - because disaster kits in malarial areas include nets and other safeguards that most people at risk of malaria cannot afford in daily life. However, it will be really easy to manage on St Vincents - there is no malaria!

Cholera is caused by a bacteria - and the worst cholera outbreaks ever, which decimated an already ravaged area, and spread far beyond it, was actually caused by UN troops in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake, introducing a form of cholera previously unknown in the Caribbean, and with devastating consequences for the previously cholera free island of Hispaniola. The only forms of cholera found on St Vincents are this "imported" one, and they have been highly successful at managing infection rates.

For a very poor country, they have incredibly good health care.

I suggest that you try finding out some facts before you indulge of outpourings of uninformed drivel. Being poor or black does not make a place incompetent or stupid. They are well capable of managing their situation, and are getting support in that from people who also know what they are doing.

Moondust001

In all my years on mumsnet, I think you’re the most sensible and level-headed person I’ve seen!

Gonsalves added that he highly recommends those who opt to go to a shelter in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, an island chain of more than 100,000 people, be vaccinated.

It's right there in the article that YOU bloody linked. All this frothing over nothing.

Moondust wins! Thank you for your common sense and for all the work you have done for the vulnerable people on the planet over the years. My next MSF donation is in your name.

I now have a crush on @Moondust001.

So, if we extend the same risk management, are we all okay about turning away unvaccinated refugees? If we have to protect our community etc? Seems a bit of double think going on.

By all reports there isnt enough shelter for the unvaccinated in the safe zones anyway.

Just picking up this bit from your final post - in disaster situations there is rarely ever enough shelter for those that need to be evacuated. That’s true of pretty much every country even outside of a global pandemic. Those who are vaccinated and leaving the island won’t be housed in a mansion or a fancy hotel. They will also be housed in a shelter. The conditions for those vaccinated and not vaccinated will be equally awful. People will be living in cramped conditions and won’t know when they will return to their homes. Their homes and livelihoods may be ruined by the eruption. Those vaccinated will still be at risk of other diseases that spread rapidly within the confines of a shelter. Those that are vaccinated may have to find a way to finance their journey back home after the eruption has stopped, you know after all the interest in them is gone and the cruise ships are back to taking holiday makers around the Caribbean. Those that are vaccinated may actually face more disadvantage than those unvaccinated.

Hey @Moondust001, maybe I’ll stop spouting what you like to call nonsense when you stop misreading and misquoting my post. You might notice that I said insect and water borne diseases “like” malaria and cholera, not necessarily those illnesses but really I meant anything other than bloody covid.
Good for you, you’ve got real life experience in humanitarian aid efforts, shame your compassion doesn’t extend to appreciating other points of view or to the avoidance of throwing insults at other forum users.

@Moondust001 brilliant posts, led by facts and not hysteria.