Vaccinations countrywide are increasing steadily according to Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony as he noted that 12 per cent of Guyana’s adult population is now fully inoculated.
This disclosure was made during the Minister’s daily COVID-19 update where he stated that 58,380 persons have so far been fully immunised as a result of receiving their second dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. “We have had 58,380 persons who received their second dose vaccine. This approximates to about 12% of our national population,” he informed.
He added that as of yesterday, a total of 187,234 persons have received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, which amounts to about 38.5 per cent of the country’s adult population. The minister went on to say that every region is doing better with regard to the vaccination programme, however there is a lot more work to be done to increase the uptake in certain regions like Region Ten.
“In some of the other regions like in Region Seven, Eight, Region One, there are pockets of hesitancy and we have identified particular communities where there is a high level of hesitancy,” Anthony stated. To address this, according to the minister, they have reached out to community leaders and religious leaders to talk to persons and provide them with accurate information about the vaccines.
He said during the update that as fast as they are able to identify communities or persons within those communities that are hesitant, authorities try to ascertain what caused those persons to be hesitant and based on the finding they then work to educate those persons.
“So it’s an ongoing job of talking to people, giving them the information so they can make a decision,” Dr. Anthony said.
