Dear Editor,
I refer to the recent news that the PPP government has placed new measures in place to encourage vaccination against COVID-19. I support the policy initiatives recently articulated by the government. My support rests on the premise that it is my opinion that Guyana, and some other countries, have reached a tipping point. That is, persons in Guyana who want to be protected by a vaccine have already been either fully vaccinated, or are in the process of becoming fully vaccinated. At this point, the persons who remain unvaccinated are exhibiting either vaccine-hesitancy or vaccine-refusal. In this scenario, simply making vaccines available will no longer work; external pressures must be exerted to achieve an acceptable level of national immunity. As such, the measures announced by the government — which do not reach the level of universal “mandatory vaccination” — will have a positive impact on the effort to protect the population from COVID. Editor, the efficacy and safety of vaccines are no longer in question; empirical data is clearly in favour of vaccination. Recent data from Florida, USA, in which the Delta Variant of the COVID virus has caused a new spike in the number of infections, show that 99 per cent of vaccinated persons who become infected do not require hospitalisation. On the other hand, some 90 per cent of seriously ill patients are totally unvaccinated. Data from other locations worldwide are in line with Florida’s statistics. Presently, one notes that the experts are referring to the new worldwide spikes of infections as, “The Pandemic of the Unvaccinated.”
I note that persons, including President of the United Mini-bus Union (UMU) Eon Andrews has cited the Declaration of Helsinki, which prohibits human experimentation, as a basis for his — and other mini-bus operators — refusal to be vaccinated. Editor, Mr. Andrews argument is a logical fallacy called the Straw-man Fallacy. COVID vaccinations, at this point, are no longer experimental; the vaccines are proven to be effective, therefore, the Declaration of Helsinki is of no relevance in the current scenario. Further, operators of vehicles used for public transport are frequently, often aggressively, interacting with people. Sometimes they touch people or speak directly into people’s faces while being unmasked. A vaccine mandate for operators of such vehicles is therefore most welcome. While I agree with the proposition that credible scientists should be at the forefront of any education campaign rather than politicians, I believe that measures such as those announced by the government should remain in place, and be strengthened. I believe that regardless of the effectiveness of any education campaign, there will always be people who prefer to believe conspiracy theories, use unproven remedies, or refuse to be vaccinated for other illogical reasons. Since the experts are of the view that only mass vaccinations combined with other mitigation measures will get us out of this predicament, there is no other endpoint to the argument; vaccines will eventually become mandatory, as such, Guyana is on the right track toward that end.
Sincerely,
Mark DaCosta
