SINCE Guyana recorded its first case of COVID-19 in March 2020, 537 children between the ages of zero and 14 have since been infected with the coronavirus, out of a total of 6,696 confirmed cases.

During the daily COVID-19 update with the Department of Public Information (DPI) on Wednesday, Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony highlighted that there have been 114 children between the ages of zero to five infected, 176 between the ages of five to nine and 247 between the ages of 10 to 14. This illustrates that about eight per cent of Guyana’s total cases have been recorded from children.

“Children generally would be asymptomatic, and we have said that a number of occasions,” he said, adding later, “We haven’t had any serious ailments with children. Most of them were asymptomatic and they were monitored and basically, they have recovered.”

An asymptomatic but positively infected person would not usually exhibit the common symptoms associated with the virus including fevers, muscle pains, coughing or a sore throat.

The minister also highlighted that there are no current vaccines which can be given to children to protect them from the coronavirus. Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines which have been approved for emergency use cannot be used to immunise children. They are for individuals aged 16 years or more.

“For Pfizer, they have started clinical trials for children between the ages of 15 to 12. In another two months there will be starting clinical trials for children between the ages of 12 to five,” he highlighted however.