As the COVID-19 vaccination rollout continues across Guyana, Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) has been leading the rollout, with 40 per cent of the targeted adult population already injected with at least their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, according to Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony.
According to the Health Minister, a total of 161,886 individuals countrywide already received their first dose of one of the three COVID-19 vaccines distributed locally. Additionally, 18,526 individuals have received their first and second doses of the vaccines. Once two weeks have elapsed since an individual has received their second dose, they are considered to be fully immunised against the disease, COVID-19.
Recording the highest regional total of people vaccinated, the minister said, is Region Six. In Region 10, however, there continues to be a low vaccination uptake.
“We continue to see a lag in Region 10 (but) there has been a slight improvement, so they are now at 10 per cent of the population,” the Health Minister said.
During a recent address to the nation, President Irfaan Ali related that the vaccination rollout across the regions have been progressing well but Region 10 continued to lag behind the other regions due to some amount of hesitancy among the population.
At the beginning of May, the Health Minister explained that while many of the other administrative regions have recorded a 30 per cent first-dose vaccination coverage, Region 10 has been lagging behind with vaccination coverage of about only 8.6 per cent. Resultantly, several cabinet ministers fanned out to Region 10 in a bid to encourage persons to get vaccinated.
Meanwhile, the Health Minister also noted that there are a few ‘hotspots’ for COVID-19 infections currently. These include: Tuschen in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Diamond on the East Bank of Demerara (EBD), Mon Repos on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD), New Amsterdam in Region Six and Bartica in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni). Hotspots across the capital city, Georgetown include Kitty and Sophia.
