Some 75 per cent of the officers in the Guyana Police Force (GPF) have taken at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines, according to President Dr. Irfaan Ali.
The President said this on Saturday during a cabinet outreach to Region Two (Pomeroon- Supenaam). No additional details were provided, as such, it is unclear how many of these officers are fully vaccinated (that is, they have received both COVID-19 vaccines).
Meanwhile, based on information provided to members of the media last week from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF), some 90 per cent of the ranks have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine while some 43 per cent of the soldiers received their second dose.
In the Guyana Prison Service, it was related that some 60 per cent of the officers and staff members took both doses of the COVID-19 vaccines. Additionally, more than 50 per cent of the prisoners have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
While the figures for the Defence Force and the Prison Service were provided to the media, figures from the Police Force were not provided prior to the President’s disclosure. It is important to note that senior members of the media have requested these figures from the Police Force numerous times, but the force’s public relations office has been unable to provide the information.
Information on the vaccination rate among members of the Guyana Fire Service has not been made available as yet either.
According to the updated COVID-19 Emergency Measures (No. 22) that were published in the Official Gazette, adults are now required to be vaccinated to access public buildings and some private buildings that members of the public have lawful access to, including learning institutions.
Members of the joint services are not exempted from these requirements. For unvaccinated people seeking to enter these buildings, an appointment must be made and those people must produce a negative result from a PCR COVID-19 test taken within seven days of the appointment.
These PCR tests must be done at a private facility approved by the Ministry of Health. This test costs about $20,000.
