Full vaccination plus booster shots needed to combat Omicron surge – Dr. Anthony

With the new Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus continuing to infect hundreds of people daily, the Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony says that being fully vaccinated and getting a booster shot is needed to protect oneself.

“With this latest wave, one of the characteristics of the mutation that we have seen with Omicron is that even if you had two doses with the vaccine, it would not have been as effective as if you had two doses plus a booster,” Dr. Anthony said on Friday during his daily COVID-19 update.

Now that the Ministry of Health is offering the Johnson and Johnson as a double-dose vaccine, that means all people will be considered fully vaccinated after they receive two vaccine doses.

The booster will be a third dose. And booster doses are being administered globally to help booster people’s protection against the deadly disease, COVID-19.

This added protection, Dr. Anthony explained, is increasingly important because the Omicron variant is more transmissible- that is, it is more easily spread from person to person.

With Guyana nearing 10,000 active COVID-19 cases, the Health Minister said that once more and more people come in and get their booster doses, then Guyana would also see a reduction in the number of cases.

Currently, only about 24,509 adults have taken booster doses. Comparatively, 416,994 adults have taken their first COVID-19 dose and more than 303,000 people have received both their first and second doses.