Tasked with the enforcement of government’s COVID-19 measures, which now prevent unvaccinated persons from entering public buildings, at least 20% of police ranks are still unvaccinated.
On Wednesday, during a virtual press briefing, Police Commissioner (ag) Nigel Hoppie disclosed that prior to the start of this week some 75% of police ranks have received the first dose of one of the COVID-19 vaccines being administered here.
The Top Cop said that number has likely increased as the force is engaged in a continuous vaccination drive.
But the number is very different for fully vaccinated persons or those who have received both doses. Only 31% of the force was fully vaccinated at the end of last week.
The Guyana Police Force (GPF) has taken a proactive approach to encourage ranks to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the Department of Public Information also reported on Wednesday.
This was disclosed by the force’s welfare officer, Woman Deputy Superintendent Jewel Sullivan during an interview on the virtual programme ‘Police and You.’
She said apart from the massive sensitisation programmes, doctors are on call to answer any question police ranks may have about the vaccine.
“Apart from that, we do not always allow them to go and get vaccinated. What we do now, is bring the vaccination site to Police Headquarters. So, for persons now getting the opportunity to go and get vaccinated… the vaccination team comes so a doctor or two is there so persons can have individual discussions with those doctors,” Superintendent Sullivan said.
“We are aware that some persons might have medical issues that they are afraid to take the vaccine, so the doctor is there to show them that it would not affect you in that way or this way or this is the better one or that is the better one. But so far, we have been doing well for the period we have been proactively been pushing for all police ranks to be vaccinated and we are still pushing to ensure that every rank is vaccinated,” she stated.
Additionally, it was recently related to members of the media that at the Guyana Defence Force, 90 per cent of the ranks have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, while some 43 per cent of the soldiers have received their second dose.
Regarding the Guyana Prison Service, 60 per cent of the officers and staff members took both doses of the COVID-19 vaccines, while more than 50 per cent of prisoners have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.
To date, Guyana has recorded over 28,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, with 692 COVID-19 related deaths as of September 14. However, over 24,000 persons have recovered.
