{"id":130255,"date":"2021-06-04T11:06:43","date_gmt":"2021-06-04T15:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=130255"},"modified":"2021-06-04T11:06:43","modified_gmt":"2021-06-04T15:06:43","slug":"melford-nicholas-hits-back-at-dr-lester-simon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/melford-nicholas-hits-back-at-dr-lester-simon\/","title":{"rendered":"Melford Nicholas hits back at Dr. Lester Simon"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Information Minister Melford Nicholas is suggesting that Dr Lester Simon was out of place when he made comments against an upcoming fete.<\/p>

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\u201cThis is absolutely not Dr Simon\u2019s Lane,\u201d \u00a0Nicolas told the press.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would have relied on Dr Simon\u2019s input and his technical expertise. We have further culled his support in relation to him chairing the committee dealing with the COVAX vaccine, and so Dr Simon brings a degree of expertise on board which the government has armed itself with and has relied upon his expertise in that particular area,\u201d he noted.<\/p>

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However, he stated that the country is \u201cfacing two main challenges \u2014 maintaining the health of the nation and maintaining the livelihoods of the nation \u2014 and so this is absolutely not Dr Simon\u2019s lane and so we note his comments but we have to give support and give an opportunity for other players to begin to play their role\u201d.<\/p>

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The Head of the lab at the Mount St. John Medical Centre and the Chairman of the National Technical Working Group on COVID-19, Dr. Lester Simon, In a Facebook post tagged \u201cI come out to pay,\u201d said the event was madness.<\/p>\n

\u201cMadness is dancing across the land. I hear they [are] planning a fete for hundreds of vaccinated people. How are they going to police that when they can\u2019t even police a yacht sailing from Antigua to Dominica?\u201d the medical practitioner asks.<\/p>

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Simon is concerned that those who have not yet been vaccinated will be able to breach the protocols established for fully vaccinated people at the venue.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat kind of mas\u2019 they playing? Jab jab or jook fu jook? Since I small I hear man crashing fete, including free fete,\u201d Simon says.<\/p>

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According to Dr. Simon, the authorities must be joking since they plan on hosting Carnival this year, as well.<\/p>

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He expresses concern that, based on the frolic and drinking that take place at these fetes, masks will be destroyed, and this could become a mass spreader event.<\/p>\n

The experts have already indicated that, even fully vaccinated, one can still catch and shed the virus. All the vaccine does is prepare the body for the virus and prevent hospitalizations and deaths.<\/p>\n

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Therefore, Dr. Simon says, whoever is \u201cplanning this nonsense must be told that this plan is a eulogy to nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n

The doctor says he understands people\u2019s anxiety to get back to their normal lives, but having a fete in these COVID-19 times is not prudent.<\/p>\n

He asks whether bands will play for free and adds, \u201cThe best band you can get, for free, for this occasion is called COVID-19 and The Variants.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s all a dream on monkey mountain. Alice in Wonderland. Or, to be grammatically correct, it is a louse in wonderland, who thinks this is a good idea,\u201d Dr. Simon concludes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n