-12,563 adolescents, 322,586 adults receive first dose of vaccine

AS Guyana continues the drive to inoculate its population against COVID-19, the country has registered seven deaths due to the virus within a 24-hour period.

This was disclosed by Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, on Tuesday, during his COVID-19 Update with the Department of Public Information. He highlighted that the number of persons being infected with the virus also continues to rise.

On Monday alone, the country registered some 161 new cases of persons infected with the virus from 1,628 tests conducted. There are currently 2,430 active cases of the virus in the country, 129 of which are hospitalised with 37 in the intensive care unit.

The minister is also urging persons to take the necessary precautions in a bid to protect themselves and those around them from the deadly virus.

The Delta variant, a more severe form of the virus, is currently present in Guyana.

“The delta variant is one that is more transmissible, some of the scientist has said if there’s one infected person, that person can infect at least nine other persons so in terms of transmissibility we are going to see more people getting infected,” he said.

As of Monday, there were 538 active cases in Georgetown, with 77 being in Kitty, 44 in Sophia and 30 in Cummings Lodge. On the East Coast of Demerara, there are 442 active cases, 33 of which are in Mon Repos. The East Bank of Demerara has some 384 active cases, 67 of which are in Grove.

Region Three (Essequibo Islands – West Demerara) currently has 560 active cases, 53 of which are in Tuschen and Region Seven (Cuyuni – Mazaruni) has 74 active cases, 60 of which are in Bartica alone. These areas have been identified as COVID-19 hotspots.

The Health Minister appealed to the public at large to get at least their first dose of either of the vaccines available. While both doses are required for full protection, the first dose is a “start” because vaccination is the most effective way to be protected against the virus.

As the vaccination campaign which targets the adolescent population picks up steam, some 12,563 persons between the ages of 12 and 18 years have already received their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. This represents 17.2 per cent of the adolescent population.

On the other hand, 322,586 adults, or 62.9 per cent of the adult population have received their first dose of one of the four COVID-19 vaccines, namely, AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Sputnik V and Johnson & Johnson, available to them. Further, some 169,309 persons received their second dose, representing 33.2 per cent of the population.