This pandemic isn't a problem of insufficient resources (including medical professionals), but of greed and politics. It really shouldn't be.
The sad thing about the state of affairs is that I endorse the science, the healthcare sector, etc. but it's the governments around the world (not just my country) that have continued to drop the ball on this one.
Back in March-May 2020, I believed it was containable, if the powers that be acted quickly to root out infections and actually properly quarantined the affected areas until they not only truly hit zero active cases, but remained so for at least two weeks. My home province was at zero active cases for multiple weeks straight, but the powers that be kept jumping the gun and allowing international and inter-provincial travel from infected zones. Now, we're having regular days of 400-500 or more infections in one or more of the provinces of ZA, with a large spread of the population.
At this point, the greed for money has made this a virus that now needs to run its course with people either getting vaccinated or not (as it has done with so many things that have come before). I don't think they can contain this any longer, not without further f@@king up the economy and making more people homeless this winter. Over the next year or more (however long it takes to get everyone vaccinated, including the Alt Wrong and antivaxxers who don't buy the farm first), there will be a lot of people who starve and die due to malnutrition around the world (more so than already do). That's not necessarily a bad thing on a broad/global/big picture long-term scale, but it's really bad for the individuals involved. It's also a poor show for Capitalism, which is allegedly a good thing for everybody (provided you're not poor and are also a good little slave to government-backed money — fiat — until you die, of course).
We have, collectively, more than sufficient resources (globally) to get through this, supporting all. We, collectively, refuse to do it. However, it isn't that simple. Sufficient resources exist, yes; but the problem isn't only some sort of collective selfishness or "apathy" or anything like that. I have happily shared what I have (which is very little) with those less fortunate than myself, and so would most (but not all) of the people I know. (Case in point: People with the means to tip might like this writing, but probably won't do so.) Most humans enjoy sharing and helping each other. It feels good to provide a helping hand up, in whatever small way we can.
The problem is an economic and political system that makes the fair distribution of resources impossible. It's the same system that is annihilating the planet, wiping out 200 species daily, and resulting in millions of climate refugees every year. It is Capitalism (in particular) and state power (in general) doing what they do so well.
Some of the problem, yes, is caused by ignorance or lack of care for others. However, much is caused by our economic system, which often forces people to choose between fighting diseases and having food or shelter.
This is not a criticism of people who managed to work from home and keep a job and are still doing alright for themselves. Good for you; you're the exception rather than the rule.
This is not a problem that can be solved with passion amongst the few. It's something that takes a radical step outside of the collective assumptions which shape our lives. And, even beyond the greed of a few, taking that step is very scary for most people. For them, it's easier to die than make a change, and it's certainly easier to watch others do so. As someone who attempted to end my own life on multiple occassions due to COVID-related health issues, I type this with certainty.
This is "the prisoner's dilemma", writ large.
This is important, because if we mis-identify/misdiagnose the problem, it'll never get solved. Again, the problem is not collective; it's an over-reliance on centralisation, a few people at the top controlling everything. It's an education system and a culture that brainwashes people into being mindless, unthinking, soulless and conformist panic-driven consumers giving up their individual power. It's an economic system that forces people to compete against each other for unevenly distributed, mismanaged and outright wasted resources (instead of rewarding those who work together, share them and practice efficiency).
I refuse to identify with the people who, without my consent, insist on ruling my life at gunpoint (id est, governments and the corporations they serve). I no longer use words like "we" or "us" to describe actions which I personally consider reprehensible and which have been carried out by other people without my desire nor consent. Voting is an impotent act that accomplishes nothing, although I still vote — not for government, but against it. (Changing slave-drivers does not make you free. If voting changed anything, it would be illegal.) We need to organize from the ground up and attack the things that are attacking and dividing us (not just a pandemic; that it has become a political issue instead of a human/survival one is unconscionable).
The sooner people realize that COVID-19 is not political, the sooner we can, as a global community, put this pandemic behind us! COVID-19 is an international and world wide issue. (That's why it's a pandemic). The COVID-19 virus is not sentient. It doesn't have the capacity to be political. Insofar as such a simple life-form has an objective, it is this: Find more hosts to infect! If you contract COVID-19, you are a host and a breading ground for spreading it and possibly another variant! By not getting vaccinated, people leave themselves open to dying of the infection once they become the next host! (Vaccination doesn't prevent infection, only lessens its impact and spread). COVID-19 does not care about skin color, political party, state, country, province, language, hair color, eye color, height, weight, size, or anything else! The only thing it seeks are more hosts, specifically vulnerable/immunocompromised ones, in which to multiply and spread! There are two very good things at hand to protect ourselves and they are masks (worn properly) and vaccines! We have a choice: Be safe because you are vaccinated and avoiding crowds or risk becoming the next spreader. Think about it: not that long ago, we saw news footage and other reports from Asian countries such as China and Hong Kong where lots of those people routinely wore masks, not because of a virus but because of poor air quality, car exhausts, dust and dirt in the air and so on. Today, they readily accept the fact that a face covering or mask and vaccines is one of the best ways to protect ourselves and others around us. Just imagine sitting in a room full of people with no mask and not having been vaccinated and someone on the other side of the room coughs or sneezes. Within moments, the particles of that sneeze or cough have filled the room and you may be breathing them in. The choice is ours: Wear the mask, get the vaccine shots and protect ourselves and others or not. Take your pick but these masks, face coverings and vaccines are here to stay for a very long time. You, on the other hand, probably aren't.
In short, the high level view is that this pandemic isn't a problem of insufficient resources, but of greed and Statist politics. It really shouldn't be. Wear a mask and get vaccinated or f@@k off and die, preferably far away from everybody else.
... And people still wonder why I'm an Anarcho-syndicalist. (Yeah, it has its problems, like having too few adherents coming together at any given time and thus not being able to organise ourselves effectively in order to achieve much of worth, never mind adequately fending off massive threats like Statists. I'd still like to think it's better than being subject to democratic slavery under Capitalism. Whether I'll see enough of a sea change in my lifetime, people getting on the crypto bus instead of getting run over by it, I honestly don't know. A man can only advocate for it and hope the message is received.)