Persons 40 years, older to get COVID-19 vaccines from next week

 Gov’t working towards herd immunity

– President Ali

His Excellency, Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali has announced that Guyana’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign will be expanded next week to include the immunisation of persons ages 40 years and older.

The President made this announcement during his address to the nation Wednesday evening.

President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali

President Ali, in his COVID-19 vaccination update, said the Government is pursuing a strategy to achieve herd immunity, and eventually provide vaccines for all Guyanese.

“Our goal is to vaccinate as many as 10,000 citizens per day. To achieve this, the Government of Guyana is embarking on an integrative approach, including Cabinet oversight, local government bodies, civil society, medical and nursing students, and the Medical Brigade of the Guyana Defence Force.

These personnel will be trained to assist in documentation of citizens so as to expedite the vaccination process.”

In the coming weeks, 400 GDF personnel along with students from medical and nursing programmes would lend support to the expanded vaccination programme. These persons will be immunised would also be immunised.

To date, Guyana has received 103,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines from the Governments of Barbados, China and India. The Government has procured some 200,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine from Russia and is exploring the purchase of another 200,000 doses.

President Ali noted that the Government has also been in discussions with several other organisations and manufacturers such as the United Arab Emirates, COVAX, Pfizer and Moderna to procure vaccines.

To date, since the roll out of the vaccination campaign, over 25,000 persons have been inoculated.

The President also said the National COVID-19 Task Force is ramping up its enforcement of the COVID-19 Measures. Businesses and persons found flouting these measures would be charged.

While the Government has tried to strike a balance between reviving the economy and managing the pandemic, the President said businesses need to be more responsible.

“Businesses must understand that it’s critical for them to adhere to the 40 per cent occupancy, to adhere to the protocols that customers should follow whilst using their establishment and to ensure that they protect their fellow Guyanese brothers and sisters.”

President Ali pointed out that Guyana is not yet ahead of the curve and is still trying to manage the pandemic. As such, he reminded Guyanese of their individual and collective responsibility to help stop transmission of the disease.

“We have lost too many lies already. The Government is sparing no efforts in ensuring that we get vaccinated as quickly as possible. But we, all of us, have a responsibility to help in this process.

I urge you to take seriously the guidelines of the COVID-19 Task Force as together we rally to ensure we get out of this pandemic as quickly as possible,” the President said.   With several upcoming religious observances, namely Phagwah, Easter and Ramadan, Dr Ali appealed to religious leaders and citizens to adhere to the approved Covid guidelines for those events.