THERE is too much hate in the world. There are people who pursue hate because of religion. Others hate because of skin colour and ethnicity.
Hate has also been rising because of differing ideologies. Not to mention hate arising from being in different social classes.
If left uncontrolled it can explode into serious conflicts. What is most disturbing is that leaders are increasingly sowing the feelings of hate. Social media has become a convenient platform to spread hate speech. Many spread hate using theories of conspiracy.
The spread of hate mongering on social media has not shown any sign of decreasing. If at all, it has grown worse in most countries. What is worrying is that, this is happening at a time when the world is in urgent need of collaboration to fight common threats like climate change and of course the pandemic that has ravaged the world. We need to think of a solution fast.
If you switch on any TV channel now, there is a good chance that the main topic discussed is vaccine. The same applies to social media and the newspapers. Everyone talks about the many Covid-19 vaccines that have appeared on the market after completing phase three of clinical trials.
Many countries have joined the vaccine race – the United States (US), Germany, United Kingdom (UK), China and Russia. The vaccines are all not developed the same way.
Some used the traditional vaccine technology making it from the inactivated virus cell. A few used the newer mRNA technology. But, scientists say they are all ok. Efficacy and safety are the two most important criteria used to evaluate the vaccines.
Talks about the different logistics requirement have also been active. The Pfizer vaccine needs very low temperature storage to maintain stability. This presents difficulties for the developing world. The preferred storage requirement would be room temperature.
It is well and good that the world now has at its disposal a range of vaccines to put an end to the pandemic. However, experts also say it may take up to four years for the right number of people to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. The WHO has already warned that poor countries should not be left out.
Already, we are hearing of vaccine nationalism among developed economies, which is not healthy if we are to successfully rid the world of infection. We in Malaysia will be receiving our first consignment at the end of February. The government has already conducted a dry run of the vaccine distribution plan.
This is commendable since the vaccine for the first consignment involves the Pfizer-BioNtech vaccine which requires very low temperature storage of minus 70 degrees Centigrade. So it looks like, with the vaccine in place, the world can look forward to end the troublesome pandemic in a few years.
Can we also resort to vaccines to defuse hate in the world? While there is a clear enemy in the pandemic, the Covid-19 virus, the situation is not as clear in the case of hate. Many even see hate as a worse enemy than the pandemic. The vaccine has to be different. The pandemic has harmed the world economy a lot.
But, the hate, if not well managed, can be even more devastating. We saw how hate between countries led to the troubling trade war between US and China. We saw how that impacted negatively on the global supply chain and therefore the economy.
We also saw how hate among ethnic groups culminated in the ousting of the Rohingya from their own country. The worrying part is that all such countries have also declared their commitment to the UN-SDGs, which single out global peace as one of the important goals. It is clear the vaccine to fight hate is sorely needed. It is not the same as the Covid-19 vaccine.
We have to go back to nature to build immunity. We need to study how nature fights hate. I think it is through regular constructive engagement between parties, always looking for a win-win solution. That is the vaccine.
The writer is Fellow, Academy of Science, UCSI University
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times