Dear Editor,
It came as quite a shock that there were many nurses in Linden and Region 10 who were unvaccinated, and a large number of teachers nationwide who were not vaccinated. The Government’s decision to give a 2-week extension for compliance shows reasonableness on the part of Government.
Both in the USA and Guyana, the vaccine was given first to frontline workers – the nurses, doctors and medical personnel. Everybody else had to wait. In Guyana, frontline workers also got a bonus from the new Government. Therefore, it was shocking to find out that some nurses are not vaccinated, and most of the teachers were not vaccinated. This is simply reckless and unacceptable.
The Government should have been tracking these numbers, and disclose same to the public. You would least expect that the vaccine resisters are medical people. Same for teachers, who are the most educated sector. It’s not that, because they worked unvaccinated, it’s okay, and they should be allowed to remain unvaccinated. Now that we know, that’s a problem to be fixed. You would expect nurses and teachers to be preaching the gospel that vaccination saves lives while the virus kills people.
It’s not a lack of education or lack of sensitivity by the Government that has made resisters and hesitants not take the vaccine. Guyanese have access to all information and are worldly wise. They know what’s going on around the world. They know it’s better to be vaccinated than to remain at risk by being unvaccinated, but some are seriously misguided by the vaccination mischief-makers, who think a COVID crisis that becomes unmanageable would embarrass the Government.
Guyanese must realise that a “hole in the boat is a hole in the whole Guyana boat.” It does not matter that the hole is on the side of the unvaccinated group. The hole affects and threatens the health and safety of all of us. As Martin Carter would say, “All are involved, all are consumed.” If you look at the headlines across the world, more and more employers are requiring people to be vaccinated or show regular negative tests if they choose to be unvaccinated. This is good, defensible public policy, and we must include the teachers too.
I trust our people would understand these are desperate times that require desperate measures, and we cannot invoke human rights when the rights of the majority in the boat are threatened. Getting the vaccine is the right thing to do!
Sincerely,
Dr Jerry Jailall
