POLITICS IN CANCELLATION OF GULF VIEW COVID VACCINES?

CONCERNED observers are decrying the cancellation by the authorities of a Covid-19 vaccination programme that was organised by Opposition Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial. 

The exercise was planned for Friday at Gulf View Community Centre, and, according to Lutchmedial, there were confirmations from more than 100 people, including students. 

South-West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) declined to approve the undertaking, and issued a voluble statement touting its programme, which, it said, “continues uninterrupted at all its health facilities and mass vaccination sites…” 

Lutchmedial stated that “more than 100 people were inconvenienced and essentially turned away based on the poorly thought-out decisions of those in charge.” 

She stated that “many days of planning and organisation have been tossed out by the unilateral decision of SWRHA…” 

Rabindra Moonan, former Deputy Mayor of San Fernando, said the cancellation “is nothing short of an affront and an insult to the efforts of the Minister of Health, who has been working tirelessly to ensure the entire population is vaccinated.” 

Moonan questioned whether the preparations would have been aborted if they had been initiated by San Fernando West Member of Parliament Faris Al Rawi. 

He called for an apology to Lutchmedial and the resignation of SWRHA officials. 

A resident of Gulf View who had enrolled for the vaccination slammed that the cancellation was “politics, pure and simple; clearly, higher powers do not want to give credibility to an opposition senator.”