Minister Teixeira urges Amerindian communities to take Covid vaccine

Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Hon. Gail Teixeira has urged residents of several Amerindian villages to get vaccinated against COVID-19 as the Government pushes to achieve herd immunity against the deadly disease.

The Minister made the call during an outreach to Regions Seven and Ten at the weekend.

“I am appealing to you because too many areas are saying no, and I am asking the Toshaos and the village council, the religious leaders of this community, the teachers, to go house-to-house and encourage people to get vaccinated. I am begging you.”

During community meetings in River’s View, Batavia, Karrau and Falmouth, Minister Teixeira told the residents that she had received reports of persons chasing health officials out of the villages. This, she said, was part of an anti-vaccination campaign, which stemmed from the spread of misinformation on social media. However, she urged them to consider taking the vaccine to preserve their lives.

“One thing about this virus is that it does not discriminate; it doesn’t care what age you are, it doesn’t care what gender you are, it doesn’t care what religion you are, it does not care what ethnicity you are, it does not care what part of the country you come from. It does not discriminate!”

Minister Teixeira said Guyana is one of the few CARICOM countries that is offering three vaccines, namely AstraZeneca, Sputnik V and Sinopharm. However, these vaccines which cost “billions of dollars” to procure and transport might go to waste if citizens refuse to take them.

“At this point, any vaccine is better that no vaccine,” she told residents.

To date, Guyana has vaccinated over 121,000 individuals with their first dose of the vaccine against Covid.

Minister Teixeira said the Government aims to have 500,000 persons fully vaccinated. This, she noted, will achieve herd immunity where the virus cannot find a host to grow, multiply and spread.

The Minister also said Brazil, Guyana’s resource-rich neighbour to the south, is currently caught in a COVID-19 crisis. She said citizens’ inability to access proper healthcare and Covid vaccines have led to a high mortality rate. India is also grappling with the disease. She noted that the Indian Government was forced to transform public spaces into treatment areas due to massive overcrowding of hospitals.

In order to prevent Guyana from suffering the same fate, she said the public must take steps to protect themselves and vaccination is key.

Meanwhile, Minister Teixeira distributed 200 food hampers to four Amerindian villages during the outreach. The distribution is part of the Government’s ongoing effort to support vulnerable communities as the pandemic prevails.