Dear Editor,
A small country like ours with a small population mostly spread out along the coast was in an ideal position to have already achieved herd immunity against the COVID-19 virus and allowed us all to return to a great degree of normalcy. However, the efforts by the Guyana Government which is mandated to act for the greater good of the community is under what is mainly a partisan politicised attack. Had the Government ignored the worldwide threat and placed us all at risk of dying it would have been in serious breach of its mandate and out of step with the rest of the world in the ongoing efforts to eradicate the COVID-19 disease. The irony of many protesting with loud voices and healthy lungs is that they are alive and kicking because their parents ensured that they were vaccinated as babies or children against diseases such as measles, mumps, polio and small pox. Most of these diseases are now eradicated worldwide because of rigorous vaccination programmes and the younger generation probably know little about them or why they are all safe from such threats.
Vaccinations are nothing new. They have saved millions of lives. The rubbish about the COVID-19 vaccines making the rounds, mainly on social media, and being fuelled by politics, ignorance, and/or a distrust of authority puts us all at risk. The person who refuses to wear a hard hat against all international safety regulations on a construction site puts only himself at risk of being killed by falling debris. Those who are refusing to get vaccinated against this deadly virus puts not only themselves at risk but everyone around them. It is unconscionable that we live among people who are so irresponsible and uncaring. There are news programmes that show the poor and uneducated in various countries refusing the vaccine and saying that God will save them without quite grasping the fact that God has given humans the intelligence to create cures for what ails us and puts lives at risk. Medicine has made numerous advances aimed at prevention, cures and saving lives and many of those refusing the vaccine expect doctors to provide them with relief when they are ill. Look at getting the jab as both a prevention and cure since most of those dying from the virus are the unvaccinated. By getting vaccinated you help save lives. Do we not all possess such basic care and compassion for our fellow human beings?
Sincerely,
Ryhaan Shah
