Prime Minister Mark Phillips through his office will be collaborating with Junior Chambers International (JCI) Guyana in a campaign to encourage the public to adhere to the COVID-19 guidelines and to get vaccinated against the virus, the Department of Public Information (DPI) has reported.
Phillips on Friday afternoon met with the President of JCI Guyana Kestine King, JCI Vice President of Projects and Community Development Deshawn Walcott and JCI Senator/Advisor Kevin Cornette.
According to a DPI report, Phillips said that the meeting was timely since the government started to vaccinate young adults (18 years of age and above). He noted that the partnership was important since the idea is to encourage as many persons as possible to take the vaccine and adhere to the regulations.
“Today’s meeting is a timely one. I used the opportunity to ask JCI to partner with us as we seek to get the message out to the Guyanese population as to the importance of adhering to the measures that will protect all of us from the spread of COVID-19 … and to get the word out there to the youths of Guyana, for them to come forward and to take the vaccine,” he was quoted as saying.
Phillips, who pledged to assist the organisation with a financial contribution, noted that JCI is a well-respected and well-established international organisation that has been operating in Guyana since 1964.
“JCI Guyana is involved in many other programmes and I have indicated that we are here to support the work of our young people and I have indicated that I am ready to offer financial assistance to the organisation to help them to continue the good work they have been doing,” he added.
The report said King indicated that she was pleased with the meeting.
“Our Prime Minister was very adamant that we are doing a good job and we are about to launch an initiative called “Get the Vax” to encourage young people to get vaccinated… we also spoke about other projects that we will be executing this year and he was very supportive,” she said.
DPI noted that JCI is a not-for-profit international organisation which extends its membership to over 120 countries. Its members are between the ages of 18 and 40 years old.
Up to Friday afternoon, the Ministry of Health had vaccinated over 76,000 persons.
