Dear Editor,
Let me state from the inception that I am fully vaccinated, and made that decision after lengthy introspection and research. My research included attending a virtual presentation on Covid vaccines, their creation and ingredients. This was hosted by my brother who has a doctorate in pharmacology, so I felt secure in the information I gained. My family and I took the vaccines from an informed position, and there is still much we do not know. It was also done when the belief was that this vaccine can protect you from contracting Covid-19. Does anyone remember those days of hope?
Then came the “breakthrough” cases, then word from the CDC and WHO that the vaccines give you the best chance to stay alive once you have contracted the disease. Stay masked up, keep your distance and sanitise just as diligently as you did before getting the vaccine. Ah ha! Now, in light of this “new” information, is it not prudent that countries use a combination of strategies to keep their citizens safe? Not Guyana. We are always following some train, pulling the worst of the policies and embracing them with a level of dogma that not even the true creators of the ideas could have imagined. We outdo ourselves every time.
Relevant Facts about COVID-19 and Vaccination;
1. The number of variants continues to grow as the virus mutates and becomes more vicious.
2. No single policy or action has been on its own the reason for success where some success has been achieved in other countries.
3. All vaccines are not created equal. The success rate of each differs, from Pfizer, Moderna, Astra Zeneca to Sputnik V.
4. The WHO has not approved all of the available vaccines in the world. Sputnik V, the Russian developed vaccine is among those not yet approved by WHO, as at the time of my penning this on September 5, 2021.
5. Research has proven that both vaccinated and unvaccinated can, and are contracting the various variants of the Covid-19 virus. The vaccinated are far more likely to survive that infection. Again, all vaccines are not created equal, so I am sure someone is busy disaggregating how many people who were fully vaccinated by each of the known vaccines got ill, and how many subsequently died. We might someday hear those stats.
Relevant Facts about Covid-19 in Guyana
1. Gazetted Covid-19 guidelines were never adequately enforced.
2. We have never had a lockdown; not for a day, not for a weekend, not for weeks.
3. Curfew as a strategy was never seriously implemented. In the height of massive increases in cases and deaths our curfew remains very lax. While some countries have sensible and effective curfews, we have 4am to 10: 30pm. Basically, life as normal for most Guyanese.
4. Mask wearing enforcement is non-existent and from the social media images of politicians smiling, gaffing and attending functions without masks, because they claim to be vaccinated, the regular man on the street is just as laissez- faire about its use. The chin is the most protected part of the human body in GT.
5. The government continues to violate its own Covid-19 guidelines with massive unnecessary gatherings by citizens to collect their entitlements – land titles, land, cash grants. All of this could have been executed through individual appointments at relevant agency offices across the country. I am convinced that thorough research would reveal that these gatherings have all been super spreader events.
6. Vaccines were made available (means of access notwithstanding). Many of those who were either told Sputnik V was their only option, or chose it over another vaccine are still waiting beyond 3 months for their second doses. Can anyone say if their first dose is still offering any coverage? The supply of 2nd doses of Sputnik V has been trickling in, slowly and not so surely. I try not to think too long about the anxiety of those waiting.
7. Education campaign on Covid-19, and moreso vaccination, has missed the mark. Not enough has been invested in answering people’s genuine fear about the vaccines, their content, long term effects on different categories of people, and on beating down myths that promote vaccine hesitancy. A large percentage of people remain hesitant because of the lack of adequate information and government transparency.
8. Vaccines are now officially mandatory, no matter what phraseology the President prefers to use. Now, this is the final nail in our coffin. Rights trampled upon, every citizen is painted with one brush. Pregnant, elderly with heart conditions and other non-communicable diseases, the poor and indigent, everyone has to take a vaccine or face having constitutionally mandated basic social services including medical care, withheld. Who, when, there is a medical emergency will remember to grab the blue book before heading to the hospital? Why should the eldest among us be forced to take vaccines that NO ONE can tell them how their bodies will react?
9. Schools are being reopened in a “phased approach”. Children ages 3-11 are to have face to face classes in groups and on rotational basis. Aren’t these the most vulnerable children? No vaccine is available for this age group; many have not yet developed the skills to continuously wear masks; and sanitising hands etc is an afterthought, a natural consequence of their developmental stage. Additional-ly, especially for early childhood development, tactile interactions are the core of their learning and growth. What is the rationale for increasing their risks?
We are in big trouble in so many ways. I am convinced that every Guyanese citizen is suffering tremendous emotional trauma daily. Some are yet to recover from the elections fiasco (whichever side of the fence you sit), Covid-19 rampage continues unabated over life and life-styles, and now, compounding matters are governmental policies that are at best tone deaf, and at worse, scandalously negligent.
I am not a politician. Social policy and its impact on development and more directly on citizens is more my cup of tea. At my core I am a hurting citizen of this country, observing how the nation continues to fail and fall apart, while those governing us, stick to their positions, ignoring even their own long term interests, for short term gains. The babies are being thrown out with the bath water, and the bucket too. I hurt for my countrymen. Not a soul in charge is listening to the fears expressed, or willing to meet in the middle. In the meantime, citizens continue to get sick and die at alarming rates. When will we unite to fight this pandemic, with sensible information sharing, holistic policies, and a galvanised citizenry ready to stand up for their rights and take responsibility for their own development? Tomorrow? That’s not promised, and at the rate Covid, cost of living and oppressive policies are killing us, now is the only time we might have.
Sincerely,
Teresa Trotman
