By Hon Caston Matewu
Marondera Central MP

The thoughts in this shot piece are my own and reflect my personal feelings towards this pandemic.

The Novel Coronavirus COVID-19 that has ravaged the world has brought the world to a standstill.

The virus was first detected in late 2019 in Wuhan, China.

The world has experienced virus outbreaks in the past such as the Ebola virus and the SARS virus.

What is scary about this latest virus is how contagious it is and how easy it is to pass from one person to another. We live in a globalised world where it is now easy to get to the four corners of the world very fast; the readily available air transport has meant that the virus can easily be transported from one country to another.

There is a huge debate about how to best prepare for any outbreak in the future and what we must do now to halt the spread of the virus.

A lot of conspiracy theories and fear mongering is now the order of the day.

I have a lot of respect for Prophet Makandiwa but his assertions are nothing but misleading.

The ideas mooted by Bill Gates for a Universal vaccine are spot on and here is why.

Our bodies have a natural defence system against any diseases that attack us; the soldiers that fight on our behalf are called antibodies.

Antibodies are specific to a particular type of infection so those who will have defeatd the Coronavirus will now have those antibodies should the disease attack again. A universal vaccine will be the best thing to ensure that we are all safe from any future attacks of this Coronaviruses. I do not support a chip but a proper vaccine like the polio vaccine that is injected to each individual whilst young. If we are injected then we can be assured that no one will pass it to another person again.

The vaccine must be generic so that if any other type of flu virus comes it will be stopped abruptly. The conspiracy theorists are somehow linking 5G technology and the Universal vaccine which is very ridiculous.

For the record I don’t support the fact that the vaccines must be tested in Africa first but we as Africans must also be vaccinated should an appropriate vaccine be found

A universal vaccine remains our best chance to defeat any other virus in the future.