Vaccine Distribution

Mar 15, 2021 Editorial

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Kaieteur News – The Hon. Minister of Public Health was clear: the vaccines that were so generously made available to this country, and that are here, would be handled with the greatest wisdom, with an emphasis on fairness. We believe that he has, or had, every intention of doing so. Yet there are certain developments that raise eyebrows, and prompt pausing, thinking, and taking positions, tough positions that may not be liked.
Frontline workers in the medical field, whether public or private institutions, were given the highest priority for vaccines, which made perfect sense. Take care of them, so that they can take care of us, when we go to them for relief from our fears and agonies. The prioritisation for vaccination of some on call, and in their own way frontline workers also, meaning public servants, such as police officers and teachers and other mandatory categories, who are exposed, out of national necessity, to daily interactions with citizens from everywhere and carrying who knows what, likewise made for good sense. That is all good and sound and we extend our commendations to the Hon. Minister of Public Health and his team of professionals engaged in a fight to the finish. Unfortunately, the finish line is unknown and a far way from any degree of satisfying finality. The world just does not know where it is in this journey and battle.
The minister was also clear: there would be no jumping of the line by those who ‘know people’ who could make things happen. That is, the right people, who would only be too glad to twist the line (and stretch the truth and circumstances) to suit their own selfish purposes. It is beginning to happen. And when they do so, it means that the deserving is pushed farther back into the line, and with a longer wait. It also means that, with a limited number of vaccines currently available, only a limited number of citizens will be vaccinated. It must always be remembered that any number of vaccines coming here, or already here, must be divided in two to arrive at how many citizens would get the full round trip of shots. Though there should be need for subtitles, whatever the number of thousands of vaccines here, or on the way to here, that number must be divided by two to determine how many Guyanese will be able to be fully vaccinated. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which requires one shot only, is not here yet, and there has been no talk of any being in the works in the near future. As a further aside, in the United States, reports are coming out that “tens of millions of doses sit idly in American manufacturing facilities” while there is an inexplicable wait for emergency clearance from officials (New York Times, March 12).
Because of all of this, it is disappointing that the now publicised schedule of available vaccine distribution seems to have most places and regions in mind, except for Region Four. In fact, awareness of vaccine distribution to those over 60 came about in the media on Saturday AFTER such distribution had already occurred at two sites in Georgetown – the GPHC and at the Ministry of Health’s complex on Upper Brickdam. This is disappointing and mystifying for several reasons, in the manner in which they were made public as far as we know, with many still uncertain as to what is what and where. It could have been done better, since many are involved, so many would want to know.
We would argue that there is no more congested place than large parts of the capital city, especially the municipal markets and transportation parks. We overlook the stores and streets, which can be persistent pictures of people congregating; we say nothing of bars and corner shop gathering places and drinking establishments. Then, a significant portion of the retail commerce in this country is transacted in the capital city. The capital city is a vital part of Region Four, despite some movement towards decentralisation.
Moreover, given the population concentration, there should be a material number of older citizens living in Region Four. And the Hon. Minister of Public Health did commit to prioritising the aged for vaccine receipt. The records of the Ministry of Social Protection Old Age Pension Registry were to be used to identify those who would be next in line. There may be other sites in the Region Four area, besides MoPH (Brickdam) and the GPHC, which should be shared publicly.
That is encouraging, and whatever is in place should be made widely known, rather than leaving much to guesswork. We would have thought that, other than for vulnerable border areas, Region Four would have been high on the list to receive vaccines, and with the widest information sharing. It just has not been so.

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