Dear Editor,
What a tragedy? With the relaxing of curfews across the world, and in Guyana for sure, there is this notion that all is well regarding the many grave issues surrounding Covid 19. The Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, has just stated that “… it is a struggle to get more persons immunised against the coronavirus.” His actual wording is that it is a “Big struggle” as the health sector is currently witnessing a downward trend in the number of persons showing up to get vaccinated against COVID-19, thus resulting in a slow immunisation uptake. This is like so silly and yet very dangerous. However, I am most glad that the Ministry is continuing its roll out of vaccines for both adolescents and adults, with booster doses available for the latter.
Now a word on this laxity with mask-wearing is vital. As we all know, the COVID-19 transmission is effected when someone who is infected with COVID sneezes, coughs or even speaks to somebody who is not infected. So, if that person is not wearing a mask, then those viral particles can get into his/her nose or mouth, and the rest you can fill in. This should have awakened us already, that is, on the global scale, almost 490 million people have tested positive for the virus and six million have died. In the Americas, more than 150 million confirmed cases have been reported with over 2.7 million deaths. Over in the US, after more than a year of adjusting to strict guidelines, many Americans got vaccinated and started to resume a more normal life. But many more will remain at risk until they get vaccinated, and experts are still tracking the emergence of virus variants that could pose new threats. Scientists and public health officials are continuing to work as quickly as possible to find more answers to key questions about how the disease affects the body and why some cases are more severe than others, and identify the best treatments for COVID-19. So, the battle is far from being over.
On the global front, we need to accept that reality that only if and when enough people are protected, either because they have had the disease, or they’ve been vaccinated, herd immunity will start to kick in and protect even those people who have not been infected. While the timeline for herd (or population) immunity is still uncertain, researchers believe we will likely not reach it any time soon. And experts are concerned that outbreaks of the Omicron variant could affect overall progress. Again, my point is that we need to quit hesitating and get vaccination percentage way higher than it is currently in Guyana. The health sector is pushing hard with extended effort, time and money, knowing full-well that infection prevention is the key, and therefore, vaccination remains the crucial strategy for avoiding infection. All adults are eligible to be vaccinated, as well teenagers and children as young as 5 for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. The government has gone and is going overboard. I call on us in Guyana to really cooperate for national and global well-being.
Sincerely,
H. Singh
