Hundreds of children, ages 12 -17, received their first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine during Saturday’s vaccination drive at the Guyana National Stadium, Providence.
According to Dr Farah December, inoculations commenced at 9 am and saw a smooth flow throughout the day. When this newspaper visited, it was observed that a small number of cars were still lined up from the gate of the National Stadium to the three tents that were erected along the stadium’s tarmac. December informed that while the three tents were set up for cars to pass through, there was a fourth tent set up for walk-ins.
Vaccinators worked in groups of four to six as they quickly registered persons and did screening by visiting cars while they were lined up. “It was a constant flow. We saw children ages 12 to 17 being brought in by their parents and guardians,” Dr December said. The vaccination drive is a collaboration between the ministries of Health and Education. Together the ministries are working to hit the 70,000 target for inoculation by utilising a donation by the US government of 146,250 doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
While the adolescents received their first dose of Pfizer, their parents could also receive their jabs. According to Dr December, first doses of Sputnik V, as well as first and second doses of Sinopharm and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines were also being distributed. “We even had some adults coming out to take their first doses. Quite a few persons had AstraZeneca second dose,” Dr December noted. She added that there were no reports of anyone having side effects from the vaccine.
Commenting on the process, December said, “It’s a task to put together but we enjoy it. We are cognizant of the end goal to ensure that we get as many persons vaccinated and protected against COVID-19 because at this point in time we are just trying to see what our new normal is going to resemble.” Dr December also noted that it is important to have the adolescents vaccinated so that they can return to the face-to-face classes. “The other important thing is having children go back to school to learn and be with their teachers. Immunization is the way to get that done.”
The Ministry of Education has announced that some nursery and primary schools will reopen for face-to-face learning today, while secondary schools will open in accordance with the vaccination programme which was launched on August 26. The education ministry in a press release on Friday said that the each secondary school will be notified of which date they will open based on the inoculation of its students.
At the nursery level, 41 of the 348 nursery schools will open to full face-to-face interaction while the others will operate on a rotation system, which will see year one and two learners attending school on different days during the week. In Friday’s release from the Education Ministry, it was stated that “where schools are not reopening for face to face instruction they will be engaged online or otherwise.” At the Primary level, 44 schools will open completely today, while another 413 including nine annexes will operate on a rotational basis. Meanwhile, teachers and school vendors are also required to either get vaccinated or provide a negative PCR test result to the head of the department they belong on a weekly basis.
