Increasing vaccination rates is Guyana’s most immediate and best hope of reaching herd immunity against COVID-19, beating the pandemic and returning to normalcy. The commonsensical, proven defense measures include vaccination, PCR COVID-19 TESTING, wearing masks, staying home. Combination of these represents an effective barrier against COVID-19.
Courts have consistently ruled that the autonomy of an individual cannot jeopardise the health of the collective. Vaccines have proven to be a powerful defense against many viruses and bacteria. Guyana today is polio-free, measles-free, whooping cough-free because of vaccines. Many diseases that used to kill thousands of children in Guyana and around the world have been eliminated because of vaccines. The small numbers of people who, for one reason or the other, have chosen not to take the COVID-19 vaccines have no right to jeopardise the health of others.
If people refuse to take vaccines that could prevent illness and death, then they need to take alternative measures to ensure they do not endanger their own lives and the lives of others. The alternatives have been clearly outlined – stay at home, or take a COVID-19 PCR test.
With COVID-19 being the worst pandemic in more than one hundred years, vaccines now stand as our main, most effective weapon in defending ourselves against this deadly virus. Ever since vaccines became available in December 2020, COVID-19 has become mainly a pandemic of the unvaccinated. More than 96% of the COVID-19-positive cases in the world are among the unvaccinated people. More than 98% of the hospitalised COVID-19 cases in the world are among the unvaccinated people. More than 99% of the COVID-19 deaths in the world are among the unvaccinated.
In Guyana, we are unaware of any COVID-19 death among persons who are fully vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines. The Government of Guyana has acquired and has more than 400,000 first doses of three COVID-19 vaccines. More than 270,000 Guyanese have received their first doses of COVID-19 vaccines. The Government has received more than 300,000 second doses of COVID-19 vaccines. So far, more than 145,000 Guyanese are fully vaccinated. But many Guyanese adults have hesitated to take the vaccines even as scientific evidence mounts that the vaccines are critical in the fight against COVID-19.
Government offices and many private sector entities have now announced vaccine mandates – for those who have not received at least one dose of vaccine, they must present a negative COVID-19 PCR test result for entry into public places such as offices, restaurants etc. This vaccine mandate does not make vaccines compulsory. It merely presents people with conditions that must be met in order to fully participate in everyday activities. As citizens, we have a choice – participate fully in everyday activities through taking a COVID-19 vaccine, or by taking a PCR test. Some individuals, including some APNU/AFC MPs, and some entities such as the Guyana Teachers Union and the Guyana Public Service Union, have objected, claiming these conditions infringe on the fundamental rights of citizens. They are being dishonest. We all accept that, in the fight against COVID-19, it is not business as usual. We have had to wear masks for more than a year now. We have had a curfew for more than a year now. Vaccines have become another weapon, and now represents the most powerful weapon the world has to fight against COVID-19. It is being offered to people, and the majority of people have come forward in solidarity, so we could present a barrier that has proven effective in Guyana and around the world.
For those who refuse to take the vaccine, nothing in the Government’s policy and nothing that the private sector entities are doing compels anyone to take the vaccine. Alternatives are provided for. In this case, people can choose to stay home, or they can take a PCR test; and, if negative, they can participate equally as those who take the vaccines. Every citizen is asked to take defensive actions, and these are the available defensive actions. Freedom to choose which of these is the most comfortable option for each of us is still available. What is not permitted is a citizen refusing to be responsible. Public health is the responsibility of everyone. The greatest of fundamental rights is that we all have a fundamental right to health. No one can exercise a fundamental right if it jeopardises the health of others. It is the reason why people can choose to smoke, but they can only do so in specified areas, so that they cannot expose others.
There is a clear case of hypocrisy in the GTU and the GPSU, and those MPs who have argued that the policy being preferred right now in Guyana and around the world violates people’s fundamental rights. In March 2020, then President David Granger issued a public health order under the Public Health Ordinance, 1934. That Order allowed for people to be forcibly removed from their homes, properties destroyed etc. Not a single one of these persons objecting today to the recommendation to either take the vaccine or take a PCR test objected then that the APNU/AFC Government was violating people’s fundamental rights. It is sheer hypocrisy, and it is injecting toxic politicising of the public health response to COVID-19 at the expense of ordinary people’s lives.
