Opposition Leader, Kamla Persad-Bissessar SC MP, is making another strident call for the Minister of Health, Terrence Deyalsingh, to resign from his post, for what she says is his incompetent handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the Opposition Leader, Government had enough time to put a proper appointment system in place and iron out all the necessary logistics, before launching a national COVID-19 vaccination drive.
The full text of her statement on the matter, follows…
Opposition Leader : Deyalsingh must resign over Covid vaccine catastrophe
Terrence Deyalsingh’s lies, failures and arrogance have now put our nation at risk for mass Covid genocide.
The Health Minister blatantly lied to the population when he boasted about the start of a mass vaccination drive, with the full knowledge that there was insufficient stock.
This government failed to act swiftly to procure enough vaccines. They had months to ensure that sufficient quantities of vaccines were sourced and procured, yet they waited, without signing the purchase orders or contracts sitting in front of them. Now, we are left to rely on the goodwill of our Caribbean neighbours and international partners in getting donations.
Deyalsingh in the meantime is now trying to shamelessly blame the Regional Health Authorities for carrying out what must admittedly be his mandate of only administering 50 doses a day. The Government’s so-called vaccine rollout has been exposed as nothing more than a rollout of lies.
More than six hundred citizens have died as a result of COVID-19 as families lost loved ones.
How many more people will now die as a result of Deyalsingh’s Great Vaccine Hoax ?
The Government had well over six months to implement both a vaccine appointment system and a deployment system. Having thousands of citizens, among them, the elderly waiting hours in long lines should never have occurred.
Week after week the Minister of Health has given this nation false hope and promises yet we have not seen a single improvement in our situation. If Government officials are “following the science” perhaps they can show how this has worked. The facts are that they have bungled the management of this health crisis, and our citizens are paying the ultimate price - some with their lives.
Today while Deyalsingh fails, not only are innocent citizens being placed at greater risk from the virus but thousands more are being punished, unable to earn a living as this Government's failed lockdown persists.
For this country to vaccinate, for this country to recuperate and recover, Deyalsingh must vacate.
Kamla Persad-Bissessar, SC, MP
Leader of the Opposition