Over 400,000 adults have taken a Covid-19 vaccine first dose

Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, announced Tuesday that Government has hit another major
milestone in its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, with more than 400,000 adults receiving their
first dose. He said over 78 per cent of the adult population has taken the first dose of a covid
vaccine, bringing Guyana closer to herd immunity.

“So, with vaccination for adults we now have been able, for first dose, to get to 400,561. So,
that’s 78.1 per cent of our adult population. So, I think this is really a milestone, getting at least
400,000 persons receiving the first dose,” Dr Anthony disclosed. The health Minister stressed
that this demonstrates the willingness of persons across the country to protect themselves against
the viral infection. He said Region Ten is still lagging behind. Due to vaccine hesitancy, a mere
35 per cent of the adult population there has received a covid vaccine.
Minister Anthony noted that a total of 278,050 adults across the country have returned for the
second dose of the vaccine, accounting for some 54.2 per cent. With regards to children, Dr.
Anthony said the 12 to 17 years, 29, 158 have taken the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, while 20,
385 have been fully vaccinated. Minister Anthony noted that while persons are taking the
vaccines, some are still flouting the public health measures, resulting in the spread of the virus.
In the last 24 hours, the Health Ministry detected 52 new cases, bringing the total active cases in
the country to 1,391. “The areas where we continue to have a cluster of cases will be in Region
Four, where we currently have 671 active cases; in Region Three, where we have 276 active
cases and in Region Six with 207 cases,” Dr. Anthony said.
Dr. Anthony said the virus continues to spread, albeit slower, 70 persons are currently
hospitalised, with 50 of them housed at the Infectious Diseases Hospital and 18 in the Intensive
Care Unit (ICU). The Health Minister appealed passionately to all Guyanese to take the vaccine
to reduce the transmission of the virus.