Dear Editor,
ON Sunday, September 5, 2021, I tuned in to the virtual meeting which was hosted by the APNU+AFC with residents of Region 10. The meeting was supposed to be a discussion on vaccination which is of concern to many Guyanese. To say that I was disappointed in some of the speakers is an understatement. I thought that as leaders and public figures some of the speakers would have been careful with their utterances, especially since the discussion was on the pandemic and vaccination. That was not the case. Editor, I write to you to express my displeasure with Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira regarding some of the statements he made.

From the beginning of the discussion, I could tell that the entire meeting was going to be riddled with misinformation. However, what I was taken aback by was the fact that Figueira basically encouraged the use of herbal remedies as an alternative to vaccines in the fight against COVID-19. The coalition and their MPs are always quick to ask for evidence when they are called out for their wrongdoings. So with that in mind, I ask that Figueira provide us with the evidence of scientific research to prove this. In his exact words, “We have a number of Guyanese who have contracted COVID, they used other forms of remedies, local herbal remedies and they’ve recovered.” He then went on to say that there are testimonies of such that cannot be disputed. I am not aware of any scientific study or research which proves the use of herbal remedies as a better alternative to vaccination in the fight against this pandemic. However, if Figueira has the information, I think we would all like to know who conducted this research and when and what herbal remedies were used. After all, Figueira is supposed to serve the people, so if he knows of an alternative to deal with the spread of the COVID-19 virus which has been proven to work, he should tell the people of Guyana as it would be of great help. In the meantime, I ask that Guyanese continue to ignore this nonsense being spewed by the coalition ever so often to deter people from taking the vaccines.

But Figueira’s utterances and Dr. Karen Cummings’ expression of opposition support for the vaccination effort made on the same day are examples of the sort of deception being employed by the opposition — say one thing publicly and do the complete opposite behind the scene.

Editor, I want to remind everyone reading this that the COVID-19 vaccines have been scientifically proven to be the most effective form of medicine used for combating the spread of the COVID-19 virus. It is for this very reason that the World Health Organisation (WHO) is recommending that everyone gets vaccinated. If there was indisputable evidence that another alternative to the vaccines is herbs then I am positive that the WHO would have recommended that people use them rather than source vaccines. The truth is that herbal remedies can only strengthen the body but cannot fight the COVID-19 virus on its own as is suggested by Figueira. This just goes to show how barefacedly the entire APNU+AFC continues to lie and spread misinformation, all for the sake of disrupting the government’s vaccination campaign. I make the call once again to MP Figueira: show us the evidence of your claims that herbal remedies have led to people in Guyana recovering from COVID-19.

Yours sincerely,
Thomas Cole