As he encouraged Guyanese to get booster jabs because of possible waning of antibody levels, Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony yesterday said that data from current COVID-19 positive cases has found that some of those infected had been fully vaccinated.
“Right now a lot of people may be positive but have very mild symptoms and a lot may be experiencing flu-like symptoms but are not being tested. Those who come to the hospital because they need care, we would test and we collect the history [medical] to know if they are boosted and so forth,” Anthony told Stabroek News yesterday.
“People had their primary doses but a number of persons still require their booster doses. So if you had a year ago, you really need to be boosted because you find a smaller percentage requiring hospitalization if boosted,” he added.
He said that the Ministry of Health has its data bank on COVID-19 and periodically reviews it.
What has been established, Anthony said, is that persons who have been vaccinated may still contract the virus but the effects are less as compared to those who have not been vaccinated.
Further, he noted that booster shots enhance protection and decrease a person’s risk of serious infection and hospitalization.
As of yesterday, the Ministry of Health reported that it had recorded 52 new cases with three persons in the Intensive Care Unit of the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Liliendaal.
The Ministry of Health had on the 25th of May reported that a six-month-old baby boy from Region Six had succumbed to the virus.
Vaccinations have fallen since the sharp decline in COVID infections and deaths.
Based on ministry figures, at April 11th 2022, between March 30th and April 4th, only 276 persons came forward for the first dose of a vaccine. Between that same period, 502 persons came forward for their second dose.
Anthony had said that he did not have data on the amount and brand of vaccines that are currently on hand but pointed out that at this time government is “trying to not bring large quantities”.
Overall, some 438,836 persons have taken the first dose of a vaccine and that represents 85.5% of the population, Anthony said. Second dose numbers are lower with 337,841 or 65.9% of the adult population taking. Only 60,019 persons have taken booster doses.
For children 12 to 17 years old, 34,377 of them have had a first dose of a vaccine or 47.1% in that age group. The number for second dose vaccinations in that category is 25,115 or 34.4%.
