–President Ali says
Acknowledging the over 500 Covid deaths and the soaring number of infections here President Irfaan Ali on Monday urged Guyanese to get vaccinated against the disease, saying those who have not are more deadly than the virus itself.
In a wide ranging address to the nation to mark his government’s one year anniversary Ali said the past year of the pandemic may have dampened “the fire of our enthusiasm, but it has not extinguished the flames of our optimism.”
He said it is no understatement to say that the past year has been difficult, and it is no exaggeration to say that it has been deadly so.
The COVID-19 pandemic did not spare us. “Of course, we were not alone in having to contend with the ravages of this virus, and we are not alone in continuing to battle to contain it, suppress it and overcome it. We have had to mourn the loss of some 547 lives, with more than 22,619 infections.
I wish it were not so. And I grieve with all who have lost their family and their friends,” the Guyanese leader said.
Ali said the coronavirus and its variants continue to threaten all in our society “because we all know that none of us is safe, until all of us are safe. That is why your government has spent large sums of money procuring vaccines to inoculate everyone against this dreaded and deadly virus.”
“All of us should be troubled by those who refuse to be vaccinated.
The unvaccinated are now as deadly as the virus itself, for they are not only greatly susceptible to infection; they could carry it to others, crippling or killing their own families, their friends, and their co-worker.
I appeal once again to all to protect yourselves, shelter your family, safeguard your country.
Please get inoculated,” the Guyanese leader said.
“Your government has a responsibility to defend the health of all. That is why we have had to introduce measures lasting throughout the month of August, including a curfew, limitation on certain social activities, restrictions on public movements of unvaccinated persons, and shorter opening times for certain businesses.”
Ali said “we are in a war with an unseen enemy. We have no idea when and where that enemy will turn up with lethal force.
Consequently, we must fortify ourselves against penetration, deny the enemy victims and build up our strength through vaccinations to repel the foe.
We can defeat this enemy and win this battle, returning to the life we enjoyed, but to do so, all must join the battle; all must be inoculated.”
