600 Guyanese fully vaccinated against Covid

– all healthcare workers in Region Nine immunised

– Minister Anthony

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr Frank Anthony says Government’s expansive COVID-19 vaccination campaign has started to reap the rewards, with about 600 persons fully vaccinated.

During the COVID-19 update on Friday, he said persons are considered fully immunised about seven days after taking the second dose of the vaccine.

“We have close to 600 or so persons who would have taken the Sinopharm vaccine that can be considered to be fully vaccinated, meaning they received both doses,” the Minister said.

The number of persons fully immunised will increase in about a month as more people are receiving their second shot.

The second dose of the AstraZeneca, which was the first vaccine to be given out in Guyana, is due 12 weeks after the first dose. Those inoculated with the Sinopharm are eligible for their second jabs 21 days after the first.

Minister Anthony said persons who took the Sputnik V vaccine are due for their second doses in about two weeks. There is a 28-day span between when the first and second doses of this vaccine are administered.

Additionally, Dr. Anthony said the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo (Region Nine) has led the way in having healthcare workers inoculated.

“Region Nine did exceptional work in terms of their healthcare workers, where they had 100 per cent immunisation with healthcare workers, but they still need to go a far way in terms of immunising the population itself. And so, they have started that exercise.”

The Minister said on Thursday alone, healthcare workers in Region Nine vaccinated over 200 people. The immunisations are being done despite the challenges of the terrain and the Region’s geography. Another challenge is the storage of the vaccines when transporting them.

“While we go out to far-flung communities, we still have to maintain the cold chain for these vaccines at minus 18 and minus 20. So, we have to keep the vaccines at that temperature while still reaching out to those far-flung communities. 

So, the staff has been doing an exceptional job in going out, taking these vaccines, making sure that the cold chain is maintained, and of course, immunising people,” Dr. Anthony said.

As of Thursday, over 73,000 persons had received their first dose of a vaccine.

The Government received 182,000 doses of vaccines since mid-February when it rolled out its vaccination campaign.

Minister Anthony said Guyana would receive 83,000 more doses of the Sputnik V vaccine from Russia early next week. That would be the third shipment from a total of 200,000 doses purchased. Guyana has already received 55,000 doses of this vaccine.  The Government also expects another quantity of vaccines through the COVAX Facility, even as discussions continue to secure more vaccines for the nation.