–Guyana maintains general immunisation programme despite pandemic
MINISTER of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony has said that 121,237 persons have received their first dose of one of three COVID-19 vaccines which are being distributed across the country.
On Monday, during his daily COVID-19 update, Minister Anthony related that the uptake in the national COVID-19 vaccination rollout has been going smoothly, and that in addition to the more than 121,000 first-doses which were administered, approximately 2,135 persons have now received their second dose.
All of the COVID-19 vaccines used in Guyana, namely the Oxford-AstraZeneca, the Sinopharm, and the Sputnik V, are being administered in two doses. The health minister explained that an individual is deemed fully immunised in about seven days after receiving the second dose.
“Seven days after the second dose, your body would have been able to react appropriately; you’ll see a boosting of antibodies after seven days,” Dr. Anthony said.
Meanwhile, since this week is recognised as World Immunisation Week in the Americas, Minister Anthony took the opportunity to inform the public that the health ministry has been maintaining its countrywide vaccination rollout of all 18 of the childhood vaccines, despite the pandemic.
“For all of those antigens (there are about 18 of them), we stayed within the 90 to 100 per cent coverage in Guyana,” he said, adding that only one childhood vaccine recorded an 88 per cent in 2020. He, however, did not state which vaccine that was.
Minister Anthony highlighted that the ministry is now running two nationwide vaccination campaigns simultaneously: The rollout of the childhood vaccines and the COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
Juxtaposing this success alongside the constraints presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Health Minister said: “We are very pleased that we have been able to maintain our immunisation programme for children across the country, despite the challenges with COVID.”
In a recent report, the global Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recognised that due to the COVID-19 virus, too many children are missing out on the life-saving power of vaccines. The report indicated that some 13.8 million children go without receiving a single dose of vaccine every year.
The CDC also said that almost 70 preventive immunisation campaigns in over 60 countries remain postponed due to COVID-19, and routine immunisation coverage remains on a global decline, even in the United States.
“As a global immunisation community, we must not lose track of these missed children, and we must close the gaps that hinder the equitable delivery and access to all vaccines in childhood and throughout the lifespan,” the CDC stated.
Meanwhile, at a recent event, Minister Anthony attributed the continued success of Guyana’s immunisation programme to the commitment of health workers all across the country.
“Without them going that extra mile; without them going out and making sure that every child is getting their vaccine, this would not have been possible,” Dr. Anthony said.
