COVID-19 deaths as an indicator of government ineffectiveness

Published in El Pais, 30 June 2021.

I’m going to directly throw the dynamite. It is entirely the fault of governments that people are infected by COVID-19 and dying from it. At the same time, it is also their fault if they are unable to take action without damaging the economy or maintaining an sytem without education. There are no excuses that there is no money, that they do not have infrastructure or knowledge when those who run this system are those of the government.

For many years we have known that education and health are critical aspects for economic development. Both are tasks of the government and are improved to maintain the equality of the population since it cannot be left to the free market. Free access to education and health is a universal right and also a great investment that will generate a good return to society. Sadly, COVID-19 showed that there is a lot of inequality in many countries. People are dying in their homes and children and adolescents have been without proper education for more than a year.

It is not necessary to explain which contact measures have a huge impact on an economy and the cost can be estimated between 1% to 10% per year. So vaccinating is a good investment. So why aren’t they doing it quickly? Until now, Bolivia has only applied 20 doses for every 100 people. One excuse was that there was no money for vaccines. However, Bolivia only needed between 100-200 million dollars to vaccinate 90% of the population. At worst this was only 0.5% of Bolivia’s 2020 Gross Domestic Product. Where did Bolivia fail? Exactly in the decision and the execution. Delaying vaccinations is costly and kills people.

The number of people at risk of dying from COVID-19 in Bolivia is relatively low. However, Bolivia has between 50% and 100% more deaths per million inhabitants than, for example, the Netherlands or Germany.

The main reason for the delay is the inability of the government to make quick decisions, plan and execute them. But as always happens with politicians, they promise us everything, blame others for any problem and talk for hours to justify themselves. But in the end they hire their friends or the cheapest one without taking into account that they work for the people who deserve good service and good quality products. More than a year ago, the Bolivian government knew that at some point many sick or dead from COVID-19 would arrive and that at some point it was necessary to vaccinate as quickly as possible. During all this time they have wasted time with political games, wasting the people’s money and wasting time and human lives.

The Bolivian government has had a long time to organize and strengthen its health system, but COVID-19 showed that the government is ineffective and the system is outdated, ineffective, and costly.