24th of August, 2021. Region 9, Guyana, South America
Last updated: August 24, 2021 at 16:54 pm
Residents of Lethem took to the streets yesterday, 23rd of August, 2021, to protest coercive vaccine policies which are being put in place by the government of Guyana. The protestors held a peaceful protest in front of the office of the Regional Democratic Council in Lethem and used placards to drive home their point.
Although no law has been legislated to make Covid-19 vaccination mandatory in Guyana as yet, the measures put in place to “ensure that citizens are protected against Covid-19” are coercive and punishing and is just one step short of a mandatory vaccine rule. For example, teachers are threatened that they will be marked absent and receive a pay cut if they are not vaccinated. Further, teachers who are not vaccinated may be required to submit a PCR test every Friday – the cost of which must be paid for by the teachers.
In the private sector, workers who have not been vaccinated have faced the same punishing sanctions – for example, having to submit a valid PCR test every five days.
In the medical field, nurses and doctors who have opted not to take the vaccine have been denied entry into hospital compounds. They have been required also to submit PCR test results every five days. The PCR test, by the way, which entails pushing a swab to the back of the nasal passage, is painful, uncomfortable, hazardous, and expensive.
Further, the ordinary citizen has been stripped of their basic civil and human rights with rules that stipulate that unvaccinated persons cannot enter hospital compounds, government offices etc.
The vaccine, which has been approved by the FDA for emergency use only, has caused great controversary with a debate as to its safety and efficacy and has pitted pro-vaxxers against anti-vaxxers. Antivaxxers argue that it is too early to assess the safety and efficacy of the vaccine, and cite stories of side effects and deaths possibly related to the vaccine. Provaxxers on the other hand say that antivaxxers are keeping the virus alive and allowing it to mutate.
It is clear that governments around the world, including the Guyana government, are under great pressure to ensure citizens are vaccinated at all costs.
Up Next: Ministry of Education and Guyana Teachers’ Union Lock Horns Over Vaccine Policies
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