–urge others to do their part in combatting COVID-19

AS efforts to immunise the country’s population against the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic continue, entire households have started embracing the government’s vaccination drive, and this was evidenced by the turnout at a drive-thru vaccination site at the Guyana National Stadium, on Saturday.

The Sunday Chronicle visited the site and spoke with Jillian Hinds, a mother of two who turned out with her two sons, aged 14 and 15 years, to get vaccinated.
Hinds said she had long contemplated getting the vaccine but saw Saturday as the opportune moment, since her children were also able to benefit.

“We sat down this morning [Saturday] and we had a talk as a family and I asked them how they felt about the vaccine and so on… they told me they are willing and then I told them well the stadium getting vaccine today, let’s go. So, we came out and I told them since they decided to take it I will take it today too.

“I know they have to get their education and they agreed to take the vaccine because they want to go to school and this is the only way that could happen,” Hinds said.

Having done her part to protect her family and herself, she urged other parents, who are contemplating getting their children vaccinated, to get vaccinated together so as to provide each other some level of comfort.

The government rolled out a strategic vaccination drive on Saturday, which saw both adults and children between the ages of 12 and 18 years being able to receive a dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Children at the site on Saturday received their first dose of the American-manufactured Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, while adults received their first or second dose of one of three vaccines: the Russian-produced Sputnik V vaccine, the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine or the Oxford AstraZeneca Vaccine.

Naeem Baksh, who visited the vaccination site with his siblings, said that he believes it was a great opportunity to get vaccinated as a family.

He noted that the vaccination drive provides parents with a chance to show their children that the vaccines are not anything to be afraid of.

“Well, I feel the vaccination drive is a very good initiative. We all agreed to get the vaccine because we felt like it was necessary… so we are happy that we could be here and we could get vaccinated with our sister so she would know that getting vaccinated isn’t anything that she should be afraid of or anything that would harm her because we are all taking it together,” Baksh said.

It is his belief that everyone should get vaccinated after doing the necessary research and feeling comfortable about the step they would be taking.

Meanwhile, Julie Etwaroo, who took her 14-year-old grandson and her 12-year-old granddaughter to be vaccinated, said that she thinks that the government’s initiative is timely, especially considering the physical re-opening of schools on September 6, 2021, which for children ages 12 to 18 years largely depends on the vaccination rollout.

In expressing her belief that all parents should take steps to get their children vaccinated, Etwaroo said: “They have to be vaccinated. It’s better to be on the safe side. We know the vaccine is going to protect them from this virus and they can be able to go to school because it’s very hard for them to stay away from school so long.”