THE Ministry of Human Services and Social Security has said that there have been no reports of any vaccine-related deaths at the Palms Geriatric Home.

The ministry’s announcement follows a news report by a media house purporting that some residents at the facility had died after being vaccinated.

To this end, in a statement on Wednesday, the ministry reaffirmed that residents at the geriatric home were also attended to by the staff on duty, notwithstanding an early morning disruption after several staff members were barred from entering the facility for not being vaccinated.

Like other organisations across the country, the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security is required to enforce the gazetted vaccination mandate, which stipulates that persons be vaccinated or produce negative COVID-19 PCR tests before entering public buildings.

The ministry related that four residents at the facility who tested positive for COVID-19 and recently recovered is testimony to the care provided to the residents at the Institution.
The ministry also sought to address claims that there were issues with personal protective equipment (PPE) being issued to staff.

“All staff are equipped with the required PPE to execute their duties as safely as possible. The staff at the Palms have never been required to wash or reuse PPE and there is no shortage of PPE at the Palms,” the ministry said in the statement.

It is the ministry’s firm view that everything must be done to protect the vulnerable residents of the facility.

For this reason, the Human Services and Social Security Ministry took the opportunity to encourage not just the employees at the Palms, but also all Guyanese to take the deadly COVID-19 pandemic seriously and get vaccinated to protect themselves and others against the spread of the virus.

“The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security would like to remind the public that the staff of the Palms serve a segment of the population who are very reliant on others for their care and well-being.

“We always ensure that the residents of the Palms are safe and protected as they constitute a decidedly vulnerable part of the population under our care. We take their health and well-being very seriously,” the statement noted.