Saying that vaccination alone would not contain the spread of COVID-19, including its variants, the main opposition A Partnership for National Unity and Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) has again called on the government to pursue a holistic approach to protect citizens.
While reiterating that COVID-19 vaccination is not mandatory, the government has moved to place greater restrictions on access to public spaces by unvaccinated persons. Under its latest measure, which was gazetted on Saturday, members of the public who want to enter privately-owned businesses – to which the public has lawful access – now have to be vaccinated or alternatively will have to show evidence of a recent negative PCR test and make an appointment.
“The APNU+AFC strongly recommends that vaccination be voluntary and with informed consent. Coercion is not an option and is not science, neither is fear mongering. We believe that vaccination alone is not the solution to contain the Delta variant but a holistic [approach] is required to protect our people,” Shadow Health Minister Dr Karen Cummings declared during an address to the nation on Monday.
She noted that that as a result of the gazetted measures regarding vaccination policy, senior citizens have been unable to access their monthly pension as they have been denied entry from the post offices.
In addition, she said, the coalition is proposing that steps be taken to incentivise Guyanese to get vaccinated rather than to make them poor, and called on the government to step up the public education campaign.
Adding its voice to the debate yesterday was The Citizenship Initiative (TCI) party, which called on government to let Guyanese choose whether to receive vaccines or not, while ensuring that other measures to prevent the spread of the virus are enforced.
“It must be a citizen’s CHOICE to be vaccinated, other measures such as social distancing, mask-wearing and sanitizing are also to be followed regardless of vaccinated status. As shown by Israel, the most vaccinated population globally, persons can still become very ill with COVID despite being fully vaccinated,” TCI said in a statement that it said represented a majority view as not all its members were in agreement with the contents.
TCI noted that the party has been following the developments with the vaccination mandates and subsequently made a call for the government to adopt a more broad-based approach in its campaign against COVID-19.
“Government must not put all its eggs in one basket, but instead encourage healthy habits such as diet, exercise and vitamin intake. This has proven to be a major boost to our natural immune system. It is unfortunate that public workers such as teachers, nurses and ministry staffers are being locked out of their livelihoods because they chose not to be vaccinated. If [government] wants to implement a PCR testing mandate in lieu of vaccination, then it should make this available for free (we have oil money to do this). This would prevent unnecessary division while still providing adequate safeguards against coronavirus transmission. We must not disenfranchise any citizen based on their medical choice!” the statement added.
In addition, TCI said that after discussing the available data from various viewpoints and taking a vote, the party’s executives decided to call on the government of Guyana to follow all avenues of data both for and against vaccination, and in turn craft policies that will not be discriminatory.
“We encourage all citizens to do their research, weigh the pros and cons, and get vaccinated if they fall within a major risk category. Continue to wear masks, social distance and live healthily. Let’s not lead through division,” the statement added.
Cummings on Monday lamented that the COVID-19 situation is worsening by the day as she noted the increase in cases each day. She added that even though the numbers are “terrifying”, it may not represent the overall situation in the country and it could be far worse than is being reported.
She said that APNU+AFC is also concerned that the reopening of schools will expose children to the virus, who will then spread it to the vulnerable members in their households. She noted that the Delta variant has proven to be formidable even towards the vaccinated and this calls for a formation of a preventative task force to address the inequalities and inequities in health care delivery.
Cummings added that APNU+AFC coalition continues to reiterate that vaccines provide a powerful and effective public health tool to prevent serious infections, hospitalisation and deaths but the government needs to ensure that vaccines are accessible to every Guyanese.
She also appealed for more personal protective equipment for frontline workers and asked that primary care and family medical physicians be able to offer pre-hospital COVID-19 care to patients to help with early detection and treatment.
While the new measure came into effect on Sunday, visits by Stabroek News to several large private businesses, including supermarkets, and malls, saw that the measure was not being implemented as no vaccine card was required upon entry. Massey Supermarket in Turkeyen had, however, adopted the measure.