AS the immunisation of Guyanese in all administrative regions continues, a consignment of 25,000 doses of the Russian Sputnik V vaccine for COVID-19 will arrive at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport (CJIA) on Friday.
According to information provided by the Ministry of Health, the vaccines will arrive at around 13:42 hours on Friday. Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, will receive the vaccines and offer brief remarks.
At the sidelines of a recent event at the State House, President, Dr. Irfaan Ali, highlighted that Guyana will soon receive some 200,000 doses of the Russian made Sputnik vaccine through an arrangement with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).These vaccines will cost a total of US$4 million since the government is spending US$20 on each dose of the vaccine.

Already, Guyana has received 127,000 doses of various COVID-19 vaccines. The first tranche of 3,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was donated by Barbados, after that country received a larger donation from India.
Subsequently, China donated 20,000 Sinopharm vaccines, India donated 80,000 Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines and the COVAX facility, a global mechanism for the equitable distribution of vaccines, sent 24,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines.
During his daily update on Thursday, Dr. Anthony highlighted that more than 36,000 persons have already been vaccinated locally. Additionally, the persons who received the Sinopharm vaccine have already started to receive their second dose (which is known as the booster dose), since this second dose is given about three weeks after the first dose.

Previously Dr. Anthony related that the two doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, on the other hand, are given some eight to 12 weeks apart. This decision to extend the time at which the second dose would be administered was guided by suggestions from the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE).
Before the Sputnik V vaccines are administered, the health minister also noted that the vaccine administrators – including nurses and health workers – will have to undergo specific training. The Guyana Chronicle understands that for each different vaccine, the health workers must undergo this training, which entails learning about the vaccines to engage persons who are receiving the vaccines.