Dear Editor,

GLOBALLY, this pandemic has exposed many existing political challenges. Failure to tackle unemployment, the accumulation of debt and increases in the levels of inequality has and will continue to lead to social unrest with no end in sight to this health crisis.  As this third wave moves across this world, national governments are saddled with new kinds of human development challenges that they have never faced before.  But what is real today, is that the gap between the rich and the poor continues to widen in many countries.

What is clear is that the unequal deployment of vaccines is hurting many nations and this does not bode well for all.  About 40 per cent of the populations in advanced economies like the USA have been fully vaccinated; while that figure is just averaging around 10 per cent in emerging markets.

Fortunately for Guyana, some 30 per cent of our population is now fully vaccinated thanks to the vision of His Excellency President, Dr. Irfaan Ali.

It takes a real “sanctimonious gangster” to step up to take both the vaccines and then turn around in a whisper campaign and tell his supporters not to take the vaccines?  What manner of men will conduct such an atrocity to their support base.  But what is even more baffling is that the supporters compromise their personal health and follow these selfish leaders who continue to protect their inner circle and are willing to throw their supporters by the wayside by exposing them to this deadly pandemic because they remain unvaccinated.

I call on all Guyanese and the 20,000 Venezuelan guests who are living in Guyana to step up and get vaccinated as soon as possible so that we as a collective, who occupy the land of many waters, can banish this plague from our land.

I want to personally thank Dr. Irfaan Ali for his leadership on this issue and for stepping up and purchasing these vaccines so that all of our people can be safer.

Yours sincerely,
Sasenarine Singh