There is a lot to be said over the COVID-19 vaccination programme and while people are talking, a sharp line is being drawn, even between family members and friends. This all started when the pharmaceutical companies announced that they had found a vaccine for the novel coronavirus.
That was exciting news.
Of course, there were those of us who blinked that companies could fashion a vaccine so quickly. In other cases, it took years for a vaccine to be developed. That apart, news came that the vaccines had a fantastic efficacy rate.
However, their short production time continues to have them listed as experimental drugs. Many people are not aware that they are part of a global experiment. And their situation is not being helped by the global drive to have everyone vaccinated.
Governments are demanding that if people want to enter their establishments like offices or immigration points or schools they must be vaccinated. Guyana is no different except the government here decided to extend that edict even to private places.
Imagine the government is demanding that if people want to eat in a restaurant they should be vaccinated. It is the same if they want to go to a cinema. But I can understand that if they want to travel or enter the country they must be vaccinated. I don’t know what would happen if unvaccinated Guyanese tries to enter.
I suppose the situation may never arise because the carriers would not take an unvaccinated person. Now after all the talk, for every reason offered for people to take the vaccine there are two why people should not be vaccinated.
A very long time ago when I was at university I learnt that it is not easy to change firmly held views. You can never convince an agnostic that there is a Supreme Being. Similarly, you cannot convince a Believer that there is no God.
Many people firmly believe that the vaccines would hurt them. There is the message that all the vaccinated people would suffer within a few years. And people do believe that.
Those who believe in the vaccine feel that those who do not take the vaccine are putting them at risk of contracting COVID-19; that they are fostering the continuation of the disease and that they are taking their lives into their own hands.
The unvaccinated listen to messages that seem very potent. Yes, one can still get COVID-19 although one is vaccinated. A vaccinated person can still; infect others.
Also, the vaccine does not rule out hospitalization. The news keeps carrying reports of people being vaccinated and hospitalized. So some ask, why to get vaccinated. Minister Dr Frank Anthony has said that with the vaccine the likelihood of a person being hospitalized is drastically reduced. He also said that people are less likely to die as a result of contracting COVID.
The truth is that most of those being hospitalized and dying are not from among the ranks of the vaccinated. But it still remains that those are the people with underlying conditions.
And with all the world hoping that people get vaccinated there are countries that refuse to accept certain vaccines. The United States and Canada do not recognize Sputnik V. That has to be a political decision because, from reports, Sputnik V has a high efficacy rate.
One argument is that the vaccine was not reviewed by peers in the developed world. Meanwhile, AstraZeneca has gained international recognition. But this vaccine was not without negative publicity in the beginning.
There were reports of the vaccine causing clots that proved deadly. Today they say that the clots could occur in women of childbearing age. The American vaccines have also had negative reviews but they have now been cleared.
I would advise Guyanese to be vaccinated. And on Tuesday I saw a very long line outside the vaccination site on Vlissengen Road. It was a heartening sign. People in this country need to visit public offices. Further, they need to verify that once vaccinated the high number of deaths would reduce.
We are losing people by the threes and fours. More than 600 Guyanese have died from COVID-19. I have my reservations about the count. I asked one health worker about the counting method. Her response was enlightening. If I have high blood pressure and I get COVID and die, then that is reported as a COVID death.
So I asked whether death would be recorded as a COVID death if a person goes in with a stab wound and tests positive for COVID. I got a smile.
And there are many jokes about the vaccine. In one clip a young man talks about having no side effects to the vaccine. “I ain’t get no side effects. I get fever and I blackout two times but no side effects.” He rubs his sides then concludes that if he had side effects he would have known.
