Dear Editor,

THERE is a protest happening in Guyana and it must end quickly. I am talking here about the ignorance that I see being manifested concerning mandatory vaccination in Guyana. The fuss is totally uncalled for and now protests have moved to the point that life and belongings are coming into play.
I go to Dr. Ezekiel Emanuel, Vice Provost for global initiatives, at the University of Pennsylvania, and according to him, “Healthcare workers have an ethical duty to put patients’ health and well-being first, and getting vaccinated for COVID-19 is integral to that duty.” He extended his statement, adding that, “Employer vaccine mandates are effective and lifesaving and they are especially appropriate in health care and long-term care settings. No patient should have to worry that they could become infected by one of their care providers, and no provider should put their patient at risk.” A big ‘amen’. So why the resistance, mind you, politically-driven, ongoing here?

I am saying all of this, because Lindeners are joining frontline health workers who were locked out of healthcare facilities across the region, as they are refusing to comply with the “no vaccine, no entry policy,” which is now a global phenomenon. How ironic, contradictory and hypocritical it is to see, that vaccinated Opposition Members of Parliament, Jermaine Figueira and Devin Sears, safe with their inoculation, are telling the Lindeners that “You are standing for your rights, you are standing for justice, you have been on the frontline serving this community without vaccine, putting your lives at risk every single day for the residents of this community and here you are denied access to your place of employment.”
These words fly in the face of groups such as the American Medical Association, American Nurses Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, Association of American Medical Colleges and the National Association for Home Care and Hospice.

All of them are calling for all healthcare employers to require their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The other thing to note is that this Linden protest seems to be more about ‘other things’, instead of the mandatory vaccination drive. The news is that there were scores of residents blocking traffic in the town.  Is this legal? I guess not, but it has the makings of societal disruptions, and I am happy that Commander of Region 10, Hugh Winter, was on hand, imploring residents “to desist from blocking the road and obstructing the flow of traffic.”
If lives matter, and Guyanese embrace irrefutable evidence concerning the fight against COVID-19, then Guyana can move on to normalcy quite quickly. I pray we quit ‘fooling around’ and act according to knowledge.

Yours truly,

Attiya Baksh