‘West Dem’ students welcome vaccination

MORE THAN 4,000 CHILDREN between the ages of 12 and 17 have received their first dose
of the Pfizer vaccine according to ministry of education figures.
Since the launch of the inoculation campaign last week in the city targeting Guyana’s adolescent
population, students have showed up at the various vaccination sites to receive the jabs. The
motivation to get the inoculant ahead of Monday’s reopening of schools after an 18-month
closure since the coronavirus outbreak here from March 2020.
So far, more than 600 Guyanese have died from the contagious and deadly virus and 4.5 million
worldwide.
Yesterday, students, accompanied by parents or guardians showed up at Greenwich Primary, and
Leonora and West Demerara Secondary Schools in Essequibo Islands/West Demerara (Region
Three) to get their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
Some of the students were happy to share their views on getting immunised.
“I’m a science student and I know the functions of a vaccine and stuff like that and everybody
should take the vaccine. It’s for their own benefit,” Shavana Doobay said.
For his part, Emmanuel Nurse felt “good so far. No sides effects, I feel good…Everyone should
do their part to help the community and the country to get better.”
“It was great because staying at home you are bored so coming back to school you can see your
friends and have fun,” Johnathon Melville told the Department of Public Information (DPI).
Endorsing Melville’s comments, Camille Smith said, “I feel really relieved that there is no
chance of getting COVID-19.

Meanwhile, Dinesh Binder added, “I think it’s a good choice because I’ve had a lot of challenges
with online classes and when you’re traveling in public transportation, you don’t know who has
the virus and I have family at home too.”
Several students, parents and teachers have welcomed and lauded the Government’s ongoing
efforts to get more Guyanese vaccinated to help combat the deadly virus.
Guyana recently received 146,250 doses of the Pfizer vaccine from the United States
Government for the local adolescent immunisation campaign. The Pfizer vaccine donation
is part of a larger donation of 5.5 million doses identified for the CARICOM region.