Dear Editor,

IT is extremely disappointing to observe that some people who put themselves out to want to be executives in this nation have taken the opportunity to abuse our collective liberties with their reckless statements. Their attempt to conduct a march against the vaccination drive for COVID on Monday, September 6, 2021, is nothing else but foolhardy and irresponsible.

If they were living in isolation away from the rest of us (the law-abiding citizens of Guyana), then we can appreciate their willingness to take the unnecessary risks, but when they choose to take risks that expose the collective as a whole, then I have a problem with such selfishness.

“My body; my right” in this case, is nothing else but a slogan steeped in an attitude of mind that is steeped in vaingloriousness that seeks to compromise the society to advance one’s self interest. This is shameful behaviour.

We need to be more patriotic and committed to our nation as a whole, rather than using every opportunity to score cheap political points which is nothing else but counter-productive and is causing us to lose access to vital human resources. All of us are at risk, so please Guyanese, ignore these reckless people and mask up, and get vaccinated.

I have observed a regional chairman, a parliamentarian, and a so-called teachers union leader trying to steer our children away from vaccination. Are these people for real? How much lower can we get with such toxic partisanship? If these people so love this nation, why did they take both of the vaccines but continue to misguide a declining minority on it? This attitude of mind of anti-vaccination; anti-masking up, anti-people, and anti-science is nothing else but self-serving. As one of the scientists stated, if you are anti-vaccination it translates to you being pro-virus, which is a dangerous position to adopt. Such thoughtlessness will directly affect the children of Guyana, especially those in school. Is this what they want for our children? Come on chaps, grow up!

So my message today is aimed at those who are ready to join the growing majority who are helping in the process to protect the whole society by stepping forward to take the vaccine. What is critical for us all is to recognise is that each of our freedoms does depend on all of us doing certain things together. In the case of this deadly pathogen, it means masking up and vaccinating together. This is the only way!

What the empirical evidence is also showing is that this pathogen is causing the gaps between the “haves” and the “have nots” to widen. Think of it: a business owner can stay away from work for two weeks to recover from COVID, but can the restaurant service attendant with the minimum wage afford to do the same, because he or she does not have the vaccines and has a higher chance of not recovering from the virus?

The enemy is not you and I, it is the COVID-19 virus. Thus, we must know this enemy and the better we are prepared to fight it, the better we can fight it collectively as a nation. The medical experts have stated publicly that the “Delta variant” is extremely deadly and the future variants (and yes they are coming) are even more deadly. Can we take that risk?

The best time to have fixed this was yesterday, but the second-best time to do so is today. Now is the time!

Yours sincerely,
Sasenarine Singh