DIRECTOR of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), Dr. Carissa Etienne has expressed concern regarding COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in Caribbean countries and has made a strong appeal for people to get vaccinated.  That concern is echoed by several other experts both at the technical and professional levels, especially in the context of new data which is showing a resurgence of the virus in some countries including the United States and other western countries. Thanks to an increase in the uptake levels in several countries, there has been a significant decrease in new cases globally. However, there are growing fears among experts that the virus could mutate and spread at an even faster rate unless strong actions are taken by national governments to contain the spread of the virus. Already there are some alarming statistics in North America and elsewhere of infection rates among children driven by the emergence of the delta variant.

As the PAHO Director pointed out, cases rise when complacency steps in. Guyana has been pushing hard to ensure that the adult population is fully vaccination but there continues to be a fair measure of resistance and complacency by some sections of the population. Many of those who refuse to be vaccinated are doing so out of misinformation regarding the health benefits of the vaccines but there are others who are encouraged to act against the best interests of themselves and their families seemingly out of political considerations.

How else can one explain significant variations in vaccination uptake levels in some parts of the country, perceived to be political strongholds of one political party, which from all appearances, seem to be using the vaccination exercise as a political tool to foster its own political end. The recent protest action in Linden and the blocking of access to the Wismar Bridge is indicative of the extent to which some people are prepared go in order to stand in the way of the government’s attempt to vaccinate the full cohort of its adult population, especially those who are considered front line workers.

It is unfortunate that some categories of professionals who are looked upon as important ‘reference groups’ in terms of the promotion of the deadly Covid-19 vaccines are allowing themselves to become part of an unscientific and wholly unsubstantiated narrative as it relates to the safety and efficacy of the vaccines. Such behaviour, apart from the dangers to which they are personally exposed to, send out a wrong message to the wider population. One can only hope that good sense will prevail and there will be rethink of their current stance.

It is in the above context that the decision by the current administration to make it mandatory for front line workers such as nurses, doctors and other categories of workers to become vaccinated or to show evidence that they are free from the COVID-19 virus as a condition to gain entry to their respective places of work. This is now becoming standard operating procedures in several other countries in the Caribbean, North America and for that matter the world at large. There is nothing punitive about that. Nor is it a violation of a person’s fundamental or constitutional right to be vaccinated against a disease which potentially could place the lives of others at risk.

The Ministry of Health has agreed to put a two-week pause on its decision to make it mandatory for front line workers to be vaccinated as a condition for entering places of work. This is not a ‘victory’ as the political opposition is claiming or wants to take credit for. Indeed, it is more a case of some measure of desperation into which the political opposition has sunk in seeking to make political capital out of the health and well-being of the Guyanese people.

The PPP/C administration, for its part, must be commended for displaying a high level of understanding and patience given the sensitivity of the matter. Not taking the vaccines, however, cannot be an option. The risks are by far too high. The country is making steady progress in terms of its vaccination programme with close to 30 per cent of the population fully vaccinated. We still have a far way to go, however, before we reach fully vaccinated status which is so vital to, as it were; break the back of this dreaded pandemic.