Fed up of medical staff and several severely ill patients being locked out of the Linden Complex Hospital (LHC) due to new COVID-19 vaccination requirements, over a hundred residents of Region Ten yesterday blocked the Mackenzie/Wismar Bridge in protest.
Region Ten Chairman Deron Adams said while the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) would continue to urge residents to get vaccinated as early as possible, it would also advocate against any attempt to make vaccination mandatory after witnessing the effects of the protocols. Over 120 healthcare workers were locked out of the LHC on Tuesday as well as six pregnant women and eight children, Adams said.
Under the updated pandemic measures implemented by the government, from this month members of the public who wish to visit a ministry or a government agency for a service will have to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or if they are unvaccinated they will have to make an appointment. Several ministries have also sent out memorandums encouraging vaccination and informing staff that if they are unvaccinated they would have to provide a negative PCR test before they can be allowed to work.
Amidst criticism that the public service system was unprepared to properly implement the protocols, which are seen as a de factor vaccine mandate, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony last night announced an extension to allow healthcare workers and public transport operators more time to become compliant.
While protestors said that they had blocked the Mackenzie/Wismar bridge since around 9 am yesterday, Regional Commander Hugh Winter said that to his knowledge it was blocked around 1 pm yesterday afternoon. He said while they had stood in front of it initially, they did not block it. He said no permission was granted for anyone to stage the protest but no one has been violent.
“These person are just intent on breaking the law. We have been trying to get the regional officials to come and talk to them as we don’t want confrontation with them,” he said. Up to 9 pm yesterday, the bridge was still blocked.
The protestors used debris, bicycles, tyres, and planks to block both sides of the bridge. Some cars were also used to block the entrance to the bridge to prevent larger vehicles from passing.
The blockage of the bridge, which is the main connector from Linden to the Lethem and Mahdia trail, saw dozens of travellers in minibuses, pick-ups and other vehicles being stranded. The majority of the vehicles were stuck on the Mackenzie side of the bridge.
In the midst of the demonstration, a vehicle was allowed to pass after the protestors manning the barricades learnt it was transporting a pregnant woman. Amidst shouts of “Baby gotta born! Baby gotta born!” the vehicle transporting the expectant mother was escorted across the bridge as the residents quickly moved aside their makeshift barricade and created a path for it to pass. But as soon as the car crossed the bridge, the protestors replaced the barrier like it had never been removed.
On the Mackenzie side of the bridge, protestors congregated between the hospital and bridge, while on the Wismar end, a few persons gathered.
‘Nobody ain’t get a choice’
Several residents told Stabroek News that they decided to join the protest because they do not agree with the locking out of healthcare workers, particularly because unvaccinated patients are being made to suffer.
“We are here in support of the nurses and doctors. They are not being allowed to work because they made a decision to not get vaccinated. They are not allowing sick people to go into the hospital. Some people had to leave to go to Georgetown to get medical attention because they were not vaccinated. Now if we can go to Georgetown and still get service why this is happening in Linden? Are they discriminating against us? We ain’t mind hearing about the vaccine but why not allow us to have a choice to know or say if we want the vaccine. Now nobody ain’t get a choice. But since it come to this, we will rebel and protest. We will do this until we get back our rights. They are violating our human rights!” a protestor, who gave his name as ‘Barber,’ said.
His sentiments were echoed by several persons. They also said they are not getting enough information about the virus and its vaccine, and if this could be done, they would not be so reluctant to take it.
Another said that he could not understand why they are being forced to take a vaccine because they would still be required to take the necessary measures. “So why can’t we continue about our business by wearing a mask and social distancing? From what I see, the vaccine is unnecessary,” he commented.
According to one of the nurses attached to the LHC, they did not receive any formal communication from their superiors regarding the new requirements and only became aware of it from social media. She said on social media it was stated that all public servants had to get vaccinated by August 8th or produce a negative PCR test every week from an authorised laboratory.
In Linden, this costs about $25,000. One nurse said she did not earn that amount in a week.
Considering that they were not informed of the changes in protocol, the health care workers were shocked to find themselves completely barred from entering the LHC’s premises because they could not show proof of COVID-19 vaccination.
A nurse said she turned up at the hospital at 1 on Tuesday to start her shift but the security guard refused to let her in. She did not leave, however, and waited around in case the person in charge changed his mind.
Not long after she arrived, she recounted, a woman who was transported from Ituni to get treatment for a snake bite arrived at the gate and was refused entry because she did not have a COVID-19 vaccination card. According to the woman, the security guard even placed a handcuff on the gates to ensure that no one could open them.
This made residents upset, she said, and they began protesting telling him that the blood of the woman would be on his hands if he did not let the woman in the hospital. Eventually, the security guard relented. This, the nurse said, was only one such incident.
Another nurse related to Stabroek News that up to yesterday members of the public were not being allowed into the hospital.
“Patients have to show a vaccination card and that is not right. If I was sick or have a child that is sick, I should not have to get a card to go in the hospital. Why are they denying us our medical rights?” a protestor said.
Meanwhile, a nurse who is a shift supervisor yesterday told Stabroek News that many the nurses that work under her are not vaccinated and as a result their colleagues who are on the morning shift are being forced to work double shifts.
She added that since Monday most nurses have been working double shifts to cushion the shortage of staff.
A mid-wife pointed out that not only healthcare workers are being affected but the entire community. She said that pregnant women were sent home from the hospital and one had to go to Georgetown to seek medical attention because such was not being provided with it at the LHC.
The woman noted that she is not against taking the vaccine and was still conducting research when the new measure was implemented. She said that although the government is saying that it is not mandatory, the protocols they have put in place are ensuring that it is.
According to a healthcare worker, only 29% of the health workers at the LHC are fully vaccinated. While the unvaccinated staff of the LHC are still going to the hospital to see whether they would be allowed in, up to yesterday the new policies remained in place.
In addition, a pregnant woman from the Linden/Soesdyke highway who was about to deliver a baby was also not permitted to go in the hospital and was told that the theatre was empty because the persons who usually work in that area were not allowed in.
‘In solidarity’
Meanwhile, speaking at a brief press conference yesterday, Adams said that the RDC stands in solidarity with residents of Linden and Region Ten who are standing up against attempts to enforce mandatory vaccination policies through the denial of basic services. He said residents must be allowed to access basic medical care, noting that some persons who recently recovered from COVID-19 are unable to get vaccinated and healthcare workers who have worked for more than a year without being vaccinate during the pandemic must be allowed to have control over what is put into their bodies.
He added that the protest, which is supported by the RDC, should be done in a manner which will not result in Linden being discriminated against. He observed that it seems as though the measures are only stringently being implemented across Region Ten.
Adams said he made attempts to contact the Minister of Health regarding the situation but was unsuccessful. He noted, however, that he spoke to the to a doctor attached to the Permanent Secretary’s office who indicated that they are unware of the positon that senior staff at the LHC has taken and promised to make contact with the Chief Executive Officer to check what was going on.
He also said that he contacted the Regional Health Officer but was told by the official that he was not in charge of the LHC but instead he is responsible for health centres.
However, Adams said based on information he received, the policies are also in place at the health centres. He argued that more should be done to educate persons on the vaccine and COVID-19.
The situation was not limited to the hospital, however, as a resident related that when she went to get her payment for distributing filaria pills, she was not allowed into the RDC’s compound because she was unvaccinated.
“I am a single parent with five children. I went into the fields and worked. I share the filaria pills without any injection. I put myself and lives of my children at risk and now to collect my little payment I have to get the vaccine,” she lamented.
When questioned by Stabroek News regarding this, Adams said that the administration has begun enforcing the measure but went on to state that if any residents wishes to raise their concern, he will not allow central government to hinder interaction between the council and residents. He disclosed that the Regional Executive Officer has been instructed to put systems in place so that members of the public who are unvaccinated can have access to the RDC’s service. He said the RDC will ensure that these systems are put in place.
‘Unfair’
Sabrina Ally, a mother, who was travelling to Mabura with her three children, said they were stuck for hours. At the time when she was speaking with this newspaper, she was considering aborting the trip until it was safe to travel.
The protest, she explained, caused them great discomfort as her children had become frustrated due to being confined to the minibus as the weather conditions prevented them from relaxing outside of the bus. She stated, too, that they did not have access to any washroom facility.
When Ally and her kids left home at around 7.30 yesterday morning, they were expecting to arrive at their destination by 4pm, but at that time they were still stranded.
Minibus operators en route to Mahdia told Stabroek News that the protest caused them hours of delay and they were concerned that the fresh vegetables and meat they were transporting could spoil, resulting in significant losses.
Additionally, taxi drivers operating between Wismar and Mackenzie were forced to park their vehicles.
Some chose to join the protest in solidarity.
A driver, who asked not to be named, said while he understands the government’s urgency to get the nation inoculated, he believes that the demand to produce a vaccination card in order to work is unfair. He stated that everyone has a choice and they should be able to independently decide on taking the vaccine against COVID-19 rather than being forced.
“This measure should not have been in place for nurses and health care workers. It is an unfair one because we need the health workers to work because the hospitals have patients who need medical attention,” he added.
He further stressed that the government should have considered providing testing for health care workers free of cost since they remain on the frontline of the pandemic.
“If the government comes up with a system where the nurses and doctors who do not want to get vaccinated can get a test every two weeks, it will bring calm to this place and everybody will be able to go back to work… This protest is not needed,” the driver, who is also a resident of Linden, said.
The man added that the government needs to urgently revise the measures to ensure every citizen is given a fair opportunity. He said, too, that the government should focus heavily on dispelling misinformation on vaccines in the public domain and share facts and answers to questions the population has.
A representative of the Guyana Bauxite and General Workers Union said that they were standing with all public servants against the demand for them to be vaccinated.
“We are against the approach the government is taking to get people vaccinated. They are saying it is not mandatory but the measures they have inplace are making it mandatory and that is against our human rights,” the union representative said.