BY AUBREY NORTON
Guyana can achieve high levels of Covid 19 vaccination without having to resort to repression of our people and violating their human rights. Recent measures announced by the regime will be counter productive.
It is hoped that there is a genuine desire to defeat the pandemic. Unfortunately, recent decisions of the regime do not appear to be heading in that noble direction. The regime seems to want to use Covid 19 measures as a tool to repress Guyanese.
Were the PPP interested in vaccination as a solution to Covid 19 they would have done a careful assessment of why some people are not taking the vaccine and then develop a response based on the data.
Such an approach can result in a comprehensive policy that seeks to educate the populace, provide incentives that will influence people to get vaccinated and involve a wide cross section of the population in a vaccination programme that is crafted with the involvement of all stakeholders and is non partisan in nature.
To achieve the above, there is need to ensure that WHO approved vaccines are available in adequate quantities and easily accessible. The lack of vaccines in adequate quantities is in itself a problem.
Then, there is need to take action to depoliticise Covid 19 and treat it as a national issue by eschewing partisan politics and use it as a means of developing inclusiveness.
If it is noted that there is inadequate amounts of vaccine and the lack of means to enforce the draconian measures imposed by the government , then it should be obvious to the PPP that their policies and programmes will result in increase corruption, however unintended it might be.
This time it will be corruption as a result of ill thought out policies and programmes that are a by product of poor Covid 19 policy formulation and implementation. We will now move from corruption based on selective Police and government enforcement to wide spread Covid 19 related corruption.
It should be obvious to all that we are in the era in which the regime is using Covid 19 as a means of repression. Their decisions and actions will generate further instability and conflict. The PPP seems to be on a course of self destruction.
In this era we should seek consensus with the aim of defeating the pandemic and not opening new avenues for corruption, instability and Covid 19 vaccine hesitancy.