–says President as he, First Lady and VP take first dose of COVID-19 vaccines

AS the COVID-19 vaccination rollout continues across Guyana, President Dr. Irfaan Ali, First Lady Arya Ali and Vice-President Bharrat Jagdeo all received their first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine on Friday.

The vaccines were administered at State House, the official residence of the First Family. After receiving the vaccine, President Ali said, “I want to take this opportunity to encourage every Guyanese to take the vaccine. While it is not mandatory, I want to urge you, as far as possible, to consider taking the vaccine.”

Previously, Dr. Ali had emphasised that the government is aiming to acquire enough vaccines to immunise the entire population by the end of this year, so that the country would be able to achieve herd immunity. Herd immunity will occur once about 80 per cent of the population is immune to the disease, and vaccination is a way of ensuring immunisation.

And on Friday, the President reiterated the government’s aim of vaccinating every Guyanese by year-end. He also highlighted that vaccines are important in protecting the citizens, and allowing the country to get ahead of the pandemic.

Importantly, he highlighted, “Only today, I had an engagement with the Organisation of Islamic Conference. We continue to reach out directly to suppliers of the Russian vaccine, Sinopharm, Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca.

“We’ve also reached out to other suppliers in the UAE, because, you know, it is becoming a global shortage in getting the vaccines itself.”

As per the current vaccination schedule, frontline workers, the elderly, and some Members of Parliament are receiving their COVID-19 vaccines. The schedule was only this week expanded to include the elderly and MPs, following Guyana’s acquisition of 20,000 Sinopharm vaccines from China, and 80,000 Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines from India.

The President, First Lady and Vice-President all received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, which is called ‘Covishield’. This vaccine is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, and has an efficacy of about 82.4 per cent, once the second dose is administered 12 weeks later.

The President also noted that the government is expecting another batch of vaccines shortly, which will be rolled out in a phased manner to Guyanese. Recently, Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony noted that Guyana will receive 100,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines from the COVAX facility, the global vaccines mechanism for equitable access, in March.

“It is important for us to ensure that we explore every avenue, having access to these vaccines in a speedy manner, and ensuring that it fits into our plan of having the entire country vaccinated before the end of the year. So you can rest assured that we will continue to work aggressively on this,” President Ali emphasised.

Meanwhile, after receiving her vaccine, the First Lady said, “After a long and difficult year, the light is at the end of the tunnel; I received my first shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine recently. I am grateful to the scientists, researchers and healthcare workers who have made this moment possible.”

She encouraged all persons to take their vaccine, once it is made available to them, as part of their duty. She emphasised that the vaccine reduces transmission of the coronavirus, and also deaths and hospitalisations, while reducing the overall burden on the healthcare systems.

“Do remember, however, that we are still in the pandemic. As such, we must continue to wear masks, and maintain social distancing until we reach herd immunity. The end is near, and we cannot let our guard down prematurely,” she said.

In addition to the President, First Lady and Vice-President, other leaders took the vaccines. Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips and his wife, Mignon Phillips took their vaccines on Wednesday. Former President Donald Ramotar, former Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, and a number of other leaders have also been vaccinated.