WHILE Guyana continues to show promising numbers for vaccination, vaccination numbers are higher for persons who have taken their first dose than their second dose.

Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony during his daily COVID-19 briefing today encouraged young people between the ages of 18 and 39 years to present themselves for their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. The only vaccine that is one dose only is the Jannsen (Johnson & Johnson) vaccine.

These persons who are not fully vaccinated, Dr Anthony said, are part of the workforce and very active and in some cases are going to parties and hanging out in bars. “They are at risk because you wouldn’t know who would be around you and if they have COVID or not.”

It should be noted that while the vaccine does not prevent someone from contracting COVID19, it does reduce the chance of death if someone were to become severely ill with the virus. Additionally, persons who receive vaccines must still continue to wash or sanitize their hands regularly, wear their masks and practise physical distancing in keeping with national and international prevention guidelines.

While there are some persons who have complained of not having adequate access to vaccines including for travel purposes, the Health Minister said there has been an issue in the past where mobile vaccination teams have been rejected in some communities.

“We have tried to engage leaders in some of these communities to talk to them about the importance of the vaccination programme and how this is going to protect them,” Dr Anthony said. This has shown results in some cases, but there is still resistance by others.

Dr Anthony said there are currently 100 fixed vaccination sites operated in every administrative region in Guyana, and the work of these sites is further supported by mobile teams conducting vaccinations in various communities. “We have gone almost to every community in Guyana.”

Turning his attention to the Guyana-Brazil border for which it was recently announced that the crossing will now be open from Mondays to Fridays, the Health Minister said it has always been the case that persons travelling from Brazil to Guyana must present evidence of vaccination and a negative PCR or Antigen test. This will continue.

In a breakdown of the vaccination numbers per age group, the Health Minister said 79% of people ages 60 and over have received their first vaccine while 66.2% have received their second dose.

For people ages 40 to 59 years, 76.7% of them have received their first dose while 56.9% have received their second dose.

In the 18 to 39 years category, which presents some challenges for the authorities, 72.5% of them have received their first dose while 43.7% have received their second dose.

For young adolescents and teenagers aged 12 to 17 years, 39% of them have received their first dose while 26.9% have received their second dose. “We are doing 500 vaccines or so per day in this age group, so we need to raise this,” the Health Minister said.

He remains hopeful that the vaccination numbers will increase over the coming weeks and months for these younger, more active groups.