Guest essay by Eric Worrall
The volcano on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent has erupted. Cruise ships and ferries are rushing to the scene to evacuate those affected by the outbreak – but people are not allowed to board the cruise ships until they have received a Covid vaccination.
The volcano on the island of St. Vincent in the Caribbean erupts after 16,000 people have been evacuated
Posted at 1:37 am yesterday, updated at 2:03 am yesterday
An explosive eruption of the La Soufriere volcano in the Caribbean rocked the island of St. Vincent following mandatory evacuation orders from the local government.
More than 16,000 residents had been evacuated when volcanic activity increased before the eruption on Friday morning local time.
Evacuees were temporarily housed on cruise ships and in safer parts of the island.
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Evacuees should be vaccinated
The new eruption followed mandatory evacuation orders issued on Thursday for people living near the volcano.
The pandemic could hinder evacuation efforts.
Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said at a press conference that people would need to be vaccinated when boarding a cruise ship or temporarily seeking refuge on another island.
He said two Royal Caribbean cruise lines are expected to arrive on Friday and a third one in the coming days, as well as two Carnival cruise lines on Friday.
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Read more: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-04-10/caribbean-island-st-vincent-volcano-erupts-16-000-evacenced/100060486
I don’t blame the rescuers – they are doing the right thing and putting their very expensive ships in danger in order to save people. Volcanic ash can easily cause millions of dollars in damage if it just lands on ships or is sucked into engine air intakes. They deserve recognition for their courage and compassion.
What I am blaming is the worldwide obsession with Covid.
Under normal circumstances, people are only evacuated from deadly disaster areas, no one turns down because they might be sick. Sick people receive medical care if necessary.
But because the world is obsessed with a disease that kills up to 1% of its victims, there is a real possibility that people fleeing a natural disaster will be told to stay and die unless they get an experimental one and potentially life threatening drug.
As I said, it is not the rescuers’ fault – they are the meat in the sandwich. If they don’t insist on vaccinations, their reward for compassion and heroism could be stuck in the sea, no one willing to take the evacuated islanders.
But the other islands that are taking in the refugees and insisting on vaccinations should take a good look in the mirror. In any case, keep the people you rescued isolated. But putting rescuers in a position where they feel like they have to withhold help from people who fled a deadly disaster and did not receive the Covid blast, even people who are at high risk of serious complications through the vaccine – in my opinion that’s just wrong.
The following is a video from DW.
Update (EW): Click here for a speech by Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, Prime Minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, stating that people who are not vaccinated will not be accepted by other countries (almost exactly one hour after the interview started, 59:05).
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