With fully-vaccinated persons making up almost 40% of COVID-19 deaths for the month, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony has said comorbidities and waning immunity may be among the responsible factors.
For January thus far, approximately 42 deaths have been reported, with 16 fully vaccinated persons numbering among the deceased.
As a result, questions have been raised as to whether some of those reported as having been fully vaccinated may have falsified their vaccination status by way of having a forged vaccination card/booklet.
When asked if the authorities have been double-checking their vaccination records to verify the vaccination status of those persons who have died, Anthony did not state whether this has been done or not. He, however, noted that even if someone is fully vaccinated, the immunity starts to wane just after about five to six months. Against this background he said with the Omicron variant or any other variant that may be in circulation, it is important for fully vaccinated persons to get their booster doses.
Anthony stated that in some cases, persons who have been taken to the hospital for treatment after contracting COVID-19 are persons who had been fully vaccinated very early on and it is possible that the antibodies developed have started to wane.
“Secondly, most people that came in and require hospitalization, most of these persons have various levels [of] comorbidities. That’s what complicated their management,” he said as it relates to what can possibly be one of the causes for fully vaccinated persons succumbing after contracting the virus.
In addition to that, he went on to note that Guyana at this time still has a mixture of the two variants and therefore the country is in what can be called a transition. “I think we still have a transition in terms of Omicron, we still have some cases of Delta and we have a combination of Omicron and Delta and, of course, with time Omicron is going to dominate,” he added.
According to the minister, this is evident in the clinical presentations in patients being seen at the various health facilities. With the Omicron variant, Anthony noted, patients present with predominantly upper respiratory tract issues, such as nasal congestion and sore throat, while with the Delta variant, which is said to be more severe, the lungs appear to be more affected. “So those, I would say, are the things that we have to look at and examine more closely,” he added.
Since the beginning of January 2022, a significant increase in COVID-19 infections has been recorded, with 12,522 new cases being reported up to January 17. This increase in infections, according to health officials, is suspected to be caused by the Omicron variant, which is more infectious.
There, however, has been no confirmation of the presence of the variant through testing. Anthony told Stabroek News yesterday that the arrangements are still being concluded to have samples sent for sequencing.
While the process of having the samples sent is being done with the assistance of the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO), Anthony stated that the samples to be sent have already been set aside.
