With Guyana being filled with persons belonging to various religious faiths, the Ministry of Health has recognized that there has been some level of resistance from the religious community as it relates to the acceptance of the COVID-19 Vaccines.
As such the Ministry is asking faith-based leaders to encourage their members to take the vaccines.
This is according to the Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony, who said in his daily COVID-19 Update, that his Ministry has recognized that it has been confronted with one problem and that is persons in the faith-based institutions have been rejecting claims of the vaccine and have shown their disapproval by not taking the vaccines.
Minister Anthony is calling on all faith-based leaders to help in the fight by encouraging their members to take the vaccines and by helping to dispel the rumors of the vaccines.
“We are still confronted with a problem in some communities, where people have influence in those communities. Some of the faith-based leaders have been telling their church members not to take the vaccines. We want to urge these leaders and the churches that they are affiliated with, and national leaders to talk to them about the importance of vaccination.
The meetings that we have had nationally with all the religious faiths have supported the vaccination program and we need this message to get to these pastors in the various communities, so that message can be consistent” Minister Anthony said.
“These church leaders have a very dominant position when people listen to them and if they tell them not to take the vaccines and then unfortunately that we are finding that a lot of people in those communities are not taking the vaccine.
“So, we have to change that because, as we know, these vaccines are protective, they are going to save lives.
“If people are not vaccinated and they get COVID they will have challenges of being hospitalized or even dying from COVID and that is what we want to prevent,” Dr. Anthony maintained.
Some 64% percent of the population is Christian, 25% percent Hindu, 7% percent Muslim (mainly Sunni), and less than 1% percent belongs to other religious groups.
The Ministry feels that with most of their members being vaccinated Guyana can move closer to herd immunity.
That herd immunity will, according to the Ministry, be successful if some 85% of the Adult population is fully vaccinated.
