THE Region Three Private Sector Inc. (R3PSInc), in collaboration with the region’s police ranks, recently visited several communities and marketplaces to share information about COVID-19 and its impacts.

Head of the private sector organisation, Halim Khan, said the aim of the campaign was to educate Guyanese about the dangers of the virus and how to prevent its spread given the noticeable increase in positive cases in Region Three

“We had television and radio personality, Frederick Rampersaud, doing a live broadcast from a PA system on a canter truck and we visited Leonora Market, Zeeburg Market and hot spots in Tuschen Housing scheme and Parika,” Khan noted.

He said that flyers and masks were shared and the tagline “Save our family, make Region Three safe” was constantly repeated during the many interactions.

“Strategic communications are part of our daily work on the ground, and everybody has a role to play in combatting the spread of misinformation that is currently aiding the pandemic and delaying Guyana’s goal of reaching herd immunity as quickly as we can,” Khan added.

He disclosed to this publication that the initiative aims to help increase trust in vaccine safety and efficacy since many people have been exposed to information that is false, inaccurate, or misleading.

“Misconceptions about the COVID-19 vaccines have caused confusion and led people to decline vaccines, reject public health measures such as masking and physical distancing, and use unproven treatments, and this is the worst time to do such with the Delta variant,” he said.

He noted that anyone who has questions can visit any health centre to speak to a professional about issues surrounding COVID-19 and vaccination.