Despite several months of discussions and negotiations, the Guyana Government has been unable to secure special COVID-19 vaccines for children between the ages of 5 and 11 from the United States of America (USA) through a CARICOM arrangement.
This is according to the Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony who was responding to questions from the News Room during his daily COVID-19 update on Tuesday.
Guyana had planned to start administering a special Pfizer vaccine to children between this age range on November 19, 2021, but since the country was unable to secure this special dose, the vaccination of the children has been delayed.
“Those discussions are still ongoing and we have not concluded anything as yet.
“CARICOM was also in discussion with Pfizer and they were hoping that they can have maybe a negotiation on behalf of the Caribbean region. So, I know they’ve had initial meetings but nothing has concluded as yet,” Dr. Anthony said.
He said the government is still examining various ways in which these vaccines can be accessed.
“…and while we have been talking to the different agencies trying to access the vaccine, we have not concluded as yet any of those discussions,” the Health Minister said.
As it, only children between the ages of 12-17 can get vaccinated with Pfizer against COVID-19 in Guyana and thus far, only 47.3 per cent (34,504 children) have received their first dose while 34.6 per cent (25,232 children) have received their second dose.
The Health Minister acknowledged this low vaccination rate and once again urged parents to give permission for their children to get inoculated.
