Opposition Leader Joseph Harmon on Friday encouraged all Guyanese to take every precaution against contracting COVID19, including taking the available vaccines.
“Ensure that you mask up, practice social distancing and hand washing but most importantly those persons to whom the vaccine are available should take the vaccine,” Harmon said while appearing on the APNU+AFC’s Facing the Nation programme, which was broadcast on CNS Channel 6.
Harmon appeared with AFC leader Khemraj Ramjattan and opposition parliamentarian Annette Ferguson and they all declared themselves to be fully vaccinated.
In a response to a query from this newspaper about plans to engage members of the public who might be hesitant to take the vaccine, Harmon said that his office plans to release a public service announcement this week espousing the virtues of vaccination.
He stressed that while it is a personal decision on the part of every citizen, the coalition urges citizens to gather all the facts, be informed and where possible to consult with their doctors.
“We encourage citizens to take the vaccines but respect every citizen’s constitutional right, that it is their personal decision,” Harmon repeated.
Since the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccination program in February there has been a marked hesitancy in some of the opposition stronghold areas.
Earlier this month, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony disclosed that in nine of the ten administrative regions, about 30% of the adult population had received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The exception was Region Ten, where he said the figure was 8.6%.
Regional officials later told this newspaper that residents were skeptical of the vaccine and afraid of reported side effects.
In an interview with Sunday Stabroek, Regional Democratic Council (RDC) Vice-Chairman Douglas Gittens had said that residents were afraid that they might experience deadly side effects similar to the ones that are being reported around the world so they have opted not to get vaccinated.
“Persons are still scared from some of the things they are seeing on the news. This is one of the major reasons [why residents are refusing to get vaccinated],” Gittens said.
He also claimed that other leaders are actively going around spreading misinformation and saying that the vaccines are unsafe.
“Some other leaders are also spreading that the vaccines are not safe and this is contributing to some of the issues we have in Linden,” he said.
Opposition spokesperson Imran Khan forwarded a statement to Stabroek News in which Harmon denied that any such misinformation originated from members of APNU+AFC.
