The Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony says that the authorities are concerned at the decrease in the number of adolescents coming forward to receive their COVID-19 vaccine.
He noted yesterday that for the 12 to 17 age category, 28,551 or 39.1% of that age category have received their first dose while some 19,758 accounting for 27.1% have received both doses.
“So one of the challenges we have been having, not a lot of people within this age group, the 12 to 17… We have had a challenge with how many persons are coming forward to get this vaccine so it is an area of concern for us,” Anthony acknowledged.
The health minister said that the Ministries of Health and Education will have to redouble their efforts to ensure that more persons within that age cohort, in school or out of school, receive their vaccine.
“One of the big challenges that we have is that while children may experience a milder form of the COVID disease, in some children they have multi-systemic disorders and this can lead to severe forms of the disease,” he noted while adding that this is something that they have to monitor.
Further, he iterated that children need to be vaccinated in order to stay safe and also urged persons to go out and get inoculated.
