WE NEED TO ACCEPT TRANSITION FROM PANDEMIC to ENDEMIC

Mooketsi Bennedict Tekere @Kigali, Rwanda

WE NEED TO ACCEPT TRANSITION FROM PANDEMIC to ENDEMIC

I want to be the first to admit it …there is nothing wrong with failure. A humble leader takes all the praise, and all the blame and then moves on, not lingering nor lavishing in either. Because it’s not about them. It’s always about solutions for all. To build it may need two sides… depends on the people you are talking about and their needs- no assumptions — covid 19 is real. But we all get the point…

I’m more than happy to be wrong. But this is how I feel ( I share my little knowledge based on practical experience from the african continent in the last year etc around this pandemic which I feel should now be an endemic. If one asked mission driven entrepreneurs for advice;

1. We need to accept the transition from pandemic to endemic, and focus on efforts on managing the the endemic in Botswana using appropriate programs, controls and measures to move on with our lives. Borders, cities and towns cannot be closed forever and repetitively disrupted….we have to understand that closed cities and towns are not building immunity. Herd immunity is key to stop the virus from spreading! Do we have herd immunity yet?
2. The key is mass vaccination… with the right vaccine. Perhaps the middle ground is also to share different available vaccines in the market and let citizens decide if they want to consume it. Im all for transparency! We also need to stop case counting numbers of daily covid cases. The important number to report should be vaccination percentage. One thing to understand is to turn covid into an endemic is going to depend on a vaccination percentage number, more than the number of clusters marked ‘white-red-yellow etc’. The COVID vaccine should be also combined with annual flu vaccines.
3. Everyone needs to be mentally prepared- more death will happen and fingers crossed we have seen it already with people closely related to all of us . In some way we must accept we are dealing with a deadly virus and taking to full account that with stricter measures = high risk amongst all of us. Understanding the needs of everyone to get out of this situation is extremely important and consequences will be detrimental to the economy -all businesses/households will be affected. Everyone must accept the consequences are still yet to unfold at individual level, community and country level. Be prepared mentally for anything. We also need to offer our own solutions in our e-communities (facebook groups,WatsApp groups etc)…this new digital world is our advantage and we must use it- we could learn a lot from Singapore (pandemic to endemic model) Estonia (digital solutions developed locally +exported) and Rwanda (community healthcare combined with mobile technology acceleration + traceability).
4. Public-private partnership and trust in innovators, entrepreneurs and startups to work public institutions could be a secret and solution to this problem we are facing. I have experienced this personally when i last visited Rwanda ( a story of how covid has been managed successfully using technology). Citizens and Governments must be immediately incentived to embrace the digital revolution because it is transparent, fair and to the benefit of all. We need to get our act together and modernise our healthcare system. We cant be failing to manage this virus when we know more 3 million mobile phones are in the hands of Batswana.
5. E-governance must immediately come to the rescue to those who are in charge of the healthcare system- that is if they need the help! Its up to Batswana to hold them to account! That power lies in each and everyone of us. Seamless online services are possible and they are delayed. Let them drive part of the solution today, tomorrow and the future.

In the current crisis, trust and foresight will pay off.

***The views shared here are not representative of any company or any affiliated partners of NGWANA AFRICA If you are a startup founder, an early stage investor, or managing an accelerator/lab/incubator, follow me to get plugged into the startup ecosystem we are building.