AS of Thursday, some 216,862 persons have received their first dose of either the Sputnik V, AstraZeneca, or Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccines, a figure that is equivalent to about 44.5 per cent of Guyana’s adult population. This is according to Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony during his COVID-19 update with the Department of Public Information (DPI) on Friday. Some 83,729 persons have also received their second dose of the vaccine; equating to about 17.2 per cent of the adult population.
He encouraged persons who have not received their COVID-19 vaccine as yet to come out and get vaccinated, as there is currently a substantial amount of doses to facilitate vaccination.
“We would really like to have more people coming out and getting immunised, because we have adequate amounts of vaccines right now to give to people. I would really like to use this opportunity to appeal to persons to really come out and get their first dose vaccines,” he urged. He also appealed to persons who have received their first dose of the vaccine, and are now eligible for their second dose, to return for their second shot, as receiving only one dose of the vaccine would not fully immunise them against the virus.
Giving a regional breakdown of vaccination rates, Dr. Anthony said Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) and Region One (Barima-Waini) are the two regions leading the vaccination campaign.

While the former has seen 52.4 per cent of its adults receiving at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, Region One remains less than one step behind, with 52.3 per cent of the adult population taking their first ‘COVID jab’. Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) has still been lagging behind severely in terms of vaccination rates, as only 13.4 per cent of the adult population there has received their first dose of the vaccine. “The regions that are lagging really are Regions 10 and Eight. And while we would have seen these small increments, we still have to do a lot of work in these regions, so I hope we can get more people appealing to persons living in these regions to come out and get their vaccines,” the minister expressed.
Coming in behind Regions Six and One with the vaccination campaign are Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice), with 48.2 per cent of the adult population receiving their first COVID-19 vaccine, followed by Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), with 45.8 per cent vaccinated; then Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), with 44.5 per cent; Region Seven(Cuyuni-Mazaruni), with 43.9 per cent; Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), with 42.1 per cent; Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), with 41.7 per cent; and Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), with 28.4 per cent.