A casual visitor to the town of Linden, in Region Ten on Monday could be forgiven for thinking it was a holiday. The roads were nearly clear of traffic, half-naked children played in the fields and all private businesses, including supermarkets and cook shops, were closed. But yesterday was no a holiday as the residents of Region 10 staged a shutdown to protest the government’s decree that unvaccinated persons cannot freely access any public building.
The most recently gazetted emergency measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 specifies that only vaccinated persons can access public buildings on demand. Those who are unvaccinated would have to make an appointment and provide a recent negative PCR test from a private medical facility.
According to Regional Parliamentarian Jermaine Figueira, the protest would be a resounding success if the government were to respond positively to the legitimate complaint of the people.
Figueira told Stabroek News, “I am hoping that good sense prevails and the government recognises the will of the people. Governments are servants of the people. We need the government to recognise that the people do not support a coercive vaccination policy and do not support the idea of being denied access to government services which they pay for. Also the government must recognise that businesses do not support the idea that they must turn away paying customers.”
According to the parliamentarian, inoculation must remain a choice and the government must continue to offer free PCR testing to the entire population.
Regional Chairman Deron Adams reiterated many of Figueira’s positions, telling this newspaper that the people of Region 10 have, through their protest, delivered a resounding message to the government that they must find innovative ways to encourage vaccination in the region. “We are asking that they reconsider this policy. This attempt to effectively make vaccination mandatory.”
When Stabroek News visited the Region, it was clear that the opinions of the politicians were replicated on the ground. Everyone who spoke with this newspaper whether vaccinated or unvaccinated repeated the phrase, “our body, our choice.”
“They can’t want to tell people what to put into their body. I’m not vaccinated and my children won’t be vaccinated,” a taxi driver named Terry declared. Asked if he and his children did not receive vaccina-tions against measles and other childhood diseases, he said yes, but maintained that they won’t be vaccinated against COVID-19 until the vaccines had been on the market for at least several years.
Another driver, Yolan Nedd, expressed support for the shutdown but told Stabroek News that he doubts it will bear fruit.
“They [the government] don’t care. Even if this goes for one week, they will just see this as Linden hurting itself. They don’t care about we,” he said.
President of the Linden Chamber of Commerce Victor Fernandes is also concerned about the effectiveness of the shutdown.
While he agrees that the measures are excessive, Fernandes said he could not support the manner of protest either, since neither side is helpful to the private sector.
“Many businesses have lost a lot during this pandemic and there is a need for dialogue on these measures but this lockdown today did not consider the full picture. Many members of the business community might very well be sympathetic and reacting from a position of emotion but also say to the business community to turn away customers… there is need for much broader consultation on these issues,” he maintained.
The government and opposition need to have constructive dialogue on the way forward so the private sector doesn’t continue to suffer.
“I am fully vaccinated and I believe in vaccination but we cannot approach vaccination in a bullish manner. We must agree on a position and move forward with cooperation,” Fernandes concluded.
There, however, seems little chance of any such development as Minister of Health Frank Anthony has already dismissed the region’s protest as the product of misinformation and “anti-vaxxers”.
“They are a bunch of people who are trying to make political mischief. So, you have some anti-vaxxers in Region 10 that are clutching at anything they can do to just tarnish the work that the staff is doing in terms of vaccination and managing COVID-19. Unfortunately, this type of political mischief would create a lot of hesitancy in people’s mind,” he said during yesterday’s COVID-19 update.
