THE government has hit another major milestone in its COVID-19 vaccination campaign, with more than 400,000 adults receiving their first dose of one of the vaccines being administered locally.

Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, announced on Tuesday that over 78 per cent of the adult population has taken the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, bringing Guyana closer to herd immunity.

“So, with vaccination for adults, we now have been able, for first dose, to get to 400,561. So, that’s 78.1 per cent of our adult population. So, I think this is really a milestone, getting at least 400,000 persons receiving the first dose,” Dr. Anthony said.

He said this demonstrates the willingness of persons across the country to protect themselves against the viral infection. Region 10 is still lagging behind, with just 35 per cent of the adult population there receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

A total of 278,050 adults across the country have returned for the second dose of the vaccine, accounting for some 54.2 per cent.
For children 12 to 17 years, 29,158 have taken the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, while 20,385 have been fully vaccinated.

While persons are taking the vaccines, some are still flouting the public health measures, resulting in the spread of the virus. In the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health detected 52 new cases, bringing the total active cases in the country to 1,391.

“The areas where we continue to have a cluster of cases will be in Region Four, where we currently have 671 active cases; in Region Three, where we have 276 active cases and in Region Six with 207 cases,” Minister Anthony noted.

As the virus continues to spread, albeit slower, 70 persons are currently hospitalised, with 50 of them housed at the Infectious Diseases Hospital and 18 in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
It is for this reason that the Minister of Health called on all Guyanese to take the vaccine to reduce the transmission of the disease.