THE Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) has taken a decision to waive the vaccination requirement for persons in the 14-17 years age group.

“GECOM is absolutely cognisant that national registration of all eligible persons is a legal requirement as it is a constitutional obligation for it to register such persons. However, whereas, the responsibility for creating the conditions for and the actual registration of such persons is vested in GECOM, the Commission could not be unmindful of the prevalence of the COVID-19 virus and the need to ensure the protection and safety of its staff,” GECOM noted in a statement on Friday.

According to the elections body, prior to the commencement of the ongoing Registration Exercise, internal COVID-19 guidelines aimed at protecting GECOM Registration personnel was prepared and circulated to all GECOM Registration offices for compliance.

The guidelines, GECOM noted, were prepared in accordance with the provisions of Regulation 8 of the Gazetted Subsidiary Legislation – Regulations No. 1 of 2022 – The Public Health Ordinance dated Friday January 28, 2022, which stipulates that “every employer under this regulation shall ensure that appropriate COVID-19 guidelines are prepared and implemented to reduce the risk of transmission of the virus among workers to protecting employees against becoming infected with the COVID-19 Virus.”

Notwithstanding the foregoing, GECOM stated that many persons in the 14-17 years old age range might not have been able to be vaccinated for want of being in possession of national identification cards, because they were never registered.

GECOM noted that this decision was taken in consultation with the respective Chief Scrutineers of the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) and the People’s Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C), respectively.

In this regard, an Internal Memorandum dated March 9, 2022, was dispatched electronically to all of the Commission’s registration officers, instructing that the vaccination requirement be waived to allow for unvaccinated eligible persons between the ages of 14-17 years old to be registered.

However, persons within this age range visiting any GECOM Registration Office to apply for registration must adhere to the routine COVID-19 preventative measures, e.g. correct wearing of masks, sanitising, and practicing social distancing.

Further, GECOM stated that with specific reference to the provision that requires persons 18 years old and over must be fully vaccinated in order to visit any GECOM registration office to conduct registration transactions, the commission will deliberate on this matter at its next statutory meeting, to determine a conclusive approach regarding this category of unvaccinated persons who may wish to conduct registration transactions.