52,800 more COVID-19 vaccines for children donated to Guyana

Another 52,800 Pfizer injections has been given to Guyana to further accelerate its efforts to inoculate all of the nation’s children between ages 5 to 11 years old against the deadly COVID-19 virus.

It was revealed that the donation, which is a collaboration between the United States (US) Government and the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), was handed over to Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, on Tuesday.

Dr. Anthony said the COVID-19 vaccination contribution is “timely,” since the country’s pediatric vaccines were exhausted since July month end, due to the demand for the jab. The minister thanked the partners for their continued support of Guyana’s collective fight against the COVID-19 virus.

Minister Anthony noted that while government has placed significant emphasis on ensuring more children are protected against vaccines, it waited quite a long time to access the correct types of vaccines for the age 5 to 11 years cohort.

As such, he said that when the injections were finally procured, the administration immediately started its vaccination drive through several mechanisms that reached a large number of children across the country.

Minister Anthony pointed out that over 6000 children have already received their first doses to date. “And we have seen children coming back to get their second doses. What is very interesting is that in some of the interior areas like in Region Nine, they have been really good outtake of these children’s vaccines… so we have seen a lot of children coming out to get the vaccine,” he said.

Dr. Anthony expressed hope that other communities can adopt the serious attitude as Region Nine. The health minister encouraged parents to have their children within the age group inoculated.

Minister Anthony contended that there is a lot of work to be done to ensure children across the coastal regions receive their vaccines as well.

“I think for a lot of people, they believe that COVID-19 is over and people are being very complacent, but you do have one of the more contagious strains of the omicron virus that is circulating, that is the B.A5. Even if you had a previous infection with omicron or one of the other variants, you can get reinfected with B.A5, so we are still not out of the woods,” he stressed, noting that vaccination is one of the ways persons can be protected.

Additionally, Dr. Anthony said that there is a decline in the number of adults being vaccinated, especially with the booster shot. He disclosed that although they have received the initial two doses, getting the booster injection every six months is also important in safeguarding their health.

“We have made booster doses available throughout the country, so if we are going to reduce the amount of people getting sick, reduce the deaths, then all of us will have to play our role in terms of getting vaccinated,” Minister Anthony stressed.

US Deputy Chief of Mission, Adrienne Galanek, and PAHO representative, Dr Rainier Escalada were also present at the simple ceremony and provided remarks. “We are so happy to have provided Guyana with 354,66o in total. It’s a wonderful partnership that we have with the Ministry of Health and we are so happy to be here providing these lifesaving vaccines,” Galanek said.

dditionally, PAHO’s Dr Escalada noted that it is an honour to collaborate in facilitating the arrival of the vaccines. “We remain committed to this endeavour and our hope is that the population of the country, not only the adults, but the children would optimise the use of these lifesaving vaccines.”