-Health Minister assures

AS the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines for COVID-19 are being distributed to frontline health workers at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) and at the National Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal, Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony has given assurance that hinterland and rural regions will not be the last to receive the vaccines. In a recent interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Dr. Anthony highlighted that the ministry is currently expanding the vaccination infrastructure across the country and adding new sites to ensure that the rollout of these vaccines is done as efficiently as possible. He also noted that freezers and refrigerators are being added to many of the regional hospitals and health centres, since these are needed to keep the vaccines at the required cold temperature.
For hinterland and rural communities, specifically, the Health Minister highlighted that cold-storage boxes have been secured to allow for the transportation of the vaccines to the sometimes far-flung villages. Dry ice is used in these ice boxes to keep the vaccines cool while they are being transported.

Importantly, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine does not need to be stored in ultra-cold chain storage like the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. This makes it easier to distribute in far-flung communities across the country. And as such, the Health Minister affirmed, “The hinterland and rural communities would be receiving vaccines on par with what is happening on the coastland.” Additionally, Dr. Anthony noted that 35 teams of five persons each have been trained to assist with the vaccination rollout across the country. “We have a very robust system that we’ve put in place and once those vaccines start coming in large numbers, we’ll be able to deal with that,” Minister Anthony affirmed, adding: “All of that we have already prepared and able to rollout the vaccines at that scale.”

Widespread vaccination has been touted as the exit strategy fpr the pandemic. Through vaccination, the population would be able to move towards herd immunity, which means that once about 80 per cent of the adult population is immunised, transmission of the virus would be significantly constrained.
Recently, President Dr. Irfaan Ali highlighted that the government is trying to ensure that the entire population is vaccinated by the end of 2021. As such, Guyana has been trying to secure vaccines from several sources. The Government of China has already committed to donating 20,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine to Guyana, while Guyana is set to receive significant quantities of vaccines from the global vaccine alliance, COVAX; the African Union and through purchasing from vaccine manufacturers themselves. When asked if vaccinating the population by year-end is a realistic goal, Dr. Anthony highlighted: “It’s very realistic and not only is it realistic, but it is also our plan to get all of the persons who are eligible to be vaccinated by the end of the year.”