Parents have been known to choose what’s best for their children. In Asia, many parents even ensure their children choose the right spouse. The process typically goes through different stages:
Stage 1: Enjoy – Parents say, “Why be in hurry? Enjoy life.” aka “You might commit a permanent mistake in choosing the wrong spouse.”
Stage 2: Idealistic – Parents continue specifying what they most desire. They encourage their children to study and select the best.
Stage 3: Compromise – They become open to compromising, having a repertoire of choices.
Stage 4: Panic – Eventually, they reach no specification. “Just get married, please!”
Meanwhile, with Covid-19 vaccination buy-in, choosing a Covid-19 vaccination brand goes through the same stages depending on a person’s state of mind.
Stage 1: Enjoy: “Don’t get vaccinated. There are not enough studies. Better be sure than commit a permanent mistake.”
Stage 2: Idealistic: Get vaccinated, but only by this brand.
Stage 3: Compromise: Get vaccinated with any of the more popular brands.
Stage 4: Panic: Just get vaccinated. Any brand will do. Better than hospitalization and dying.
This state of mind is also a reflection of the risk attitudes of many.
Stage 1: Covid-19 won’t affect me.
Stage 2: Covid-19 may affect me.
Stage 3: Covid-19 will definitely affect me sooner or later.
Stage 4: Some of my family members may even be asymptomatic Covid-19 carriers!
Risk Mitigation:
There are four generally accepted ways to mitigate risk, more popularly known as the 4 T’s of risk mitigation. Each T, surprisingly, can be matched with each stage.
Stage 1: Tolerate – No action taken, low risk seen staying at home.
Stage 2: Treat – such as using face mask, face shield, social distancing and frequent hand washing as contingent measures to reduce likelihood of getting affected.
Stage 3: Transfer – Such as taking action by buying an insurance to transfer the financial risk to the insurance companies.
Stage 4: Terminate – Such as the realization that staying at home is not a sustainable lifestyle, hence the need to have both insurance and a Covid-19 vaccination as well to control the risk.
In conclusion, I am recommending the following:
- Work at home as much as possible and support SMEs by ordering food, wellness packages, etc.Â
- If you can’t work at home and need to go out, always use a face mask and face shield, practice social distancing, and keep washing your hands with alcohol and sanitizer.
- Buy insurance that covers Covid-related hospitalization and death.
- Get a Covid-19 vaccination. At this point, you don’t need to be too choosy, just get vaccinated!Â
