Dear Editor,
Just after Judge Fidela Corbin-Lincoln whacked the PNC unions for their lawsuit opposing vaccinations, Mr. Lincoln Lewis said, “The Guyana Trades Union Congress (GTUC), the Guyana Public Service Union (GPSU) and the Guyana Teachers Union (GTU), which have a case before the High Court on the Government’s vaccination mandate is not opposed to persons, who are eligible for and desire to take the vaccine, from doing so. Not to be outdone, the GTU said “it wishes to disassociate itself from the recent jingle which hurls derogatory remarks at the sitting Minister of Education. We are of the view that political figures have taken this to another level.”
The GTU and other PNC unions must be vigilant that anti-nationalist political motivations do not hijack the union’s improvement agenda. At a time of grave national emergency, they betrayed their mission and played politics with our national safety and security. They chose to “stick it to the PPP.” In my view, if the unions were truly for vaccines, they would not have filed frivolous, unwinnable lawsuits similar to what happened during the 5-months of election rigging. The unions would have been in the forefront encouraging vaccination and hosting vaccination sites, not fuelling protests. They did not really support vaccinations. The unions have wasted the workers’ money on lawsuits, and those who followed them and missed work should ask their unions for reimbursement for loss of pay. Their actions harm the economy and these unions would soon be asking for salary increases and benefits.
But the damage has been done. Now, the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has advised against travel to Guyana, stating that even fully vaccinated travellers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants. The CDC placed Guyana on the highest COVID-19 travel health notice level, that is, Level Four. This means the CDC believes that travel to the country should be avoided due to the current surge in COVID-19 infections. It stated, “If you must travel to Guyana, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel.”
And CNN reports that the popular Howard Stern is taking on anti-vaxxers who refuse to get the shot. He seems to be all out of carrots and is wielding sticks as he cusses (I am a righteous person and do not endorse that). Speaking on his SiriusXM satellite radio show about the recent deaths of several anti-vaxxer radio hosts, Stern said people who won’t get vaccinated are “idiots” and called for vaccinations to be mandatory. “When are we gonna stop putting up with the idiots in this country and just say it’s mandatory to get vaccinated? I want my freedom to live,” he said. “I want to get out of the house already. I want to go next door and play chess. I want to go take some pictures.”
Stern, who is vaccinated, is also frustrated over Covid patients who chose not to get vaccinated causing hospitals to be overwhelmed. “If you have a heart attack or any kind of problem, you can’t even get into the E.R. (Emergency Room). And I’m really of mind to say, “Look, if you didn’t get vaccinated and you got Covid, you don’t get into a hospital.” For emphasis, he added, “You had the cure and you wouldn’t take it.” So nation, if someone persistently refuses to be vaccinated and contracts the virus, should that person be allowed to jump the line ahead of someone with a heart condition, cancer or similar chronic condition? Or should the Covid victim wait in the line like everybody else? What do you say?
Sincerely,
Dr. Jerry Jailall
