‘Stop forcing people to take vaccine’

– TCI tells govt
… says it should be citizens’ choice to be vaccinated

The Citizenship Initiative has pushed back against government’s mandatory vaccination policy, saying it should be the choice of citizens to decide whether they want to take the vaccines.
TCI is one of the small parties that emerged during the last general elections. It went dormant after the results were announced, but emerged on Tuesday with a statement criticising the vaccine mandate.

“We call on the Government to adopt a more broad-based approach in its campaign against COVID-19. While it is commendable that government has procured and distributed Sputnik V, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines to the public, it must be noted that only Pfizer has been approved by the US FDA, and thus all others are under Emergency Use Authorization only. Therefore, it must be a citizen’s CHOICE to be vaccinated, other measures such as social distancing, mask-wearing and sanitizing are also to be followed regardless of vaccinated status,” TCI said. It noted that  as shown by Israel, the most vaccinated population globally, persons can still become very ill with COVID despite being fully vaccinated.

“Government must not put all its eggs in one basket, but instead encourage healthy habits such as diet, exercise and vitamin intake. This has proven to be a major boost to our natural immune system. It is unfortunate that public workers such as teachers, nurses and ministry staffers are being locked out of their livelihoods because they chose not to be vaccinated. If government wants to implement a PCR testing mandate in lieu of vaccination, then it should make this available for free (we have oil money to do this). This would prevent unnecessary division while still providing adequate safeguards against coronavirus transmission.” “We must not disenfranchise any citizen based on their medical choice!

The true scientific approach always leaves room for questions and never shies away from exploring new possibilities. After discussing the available data from various viewpoints and taking a vote, the TCI executive calls on the government of Guyana to follow all avenues of data both for and against vaccination, and in turn craft policies that will not be discriminatory.”
“We encourage all citizens to do their research, weigh the pros and cons, and get vaccinated if they fall within a major risk category. Continue to wear masks, social distance and live healthily. Let’s not lead through division.”