25,000 children to get vaccinated as Spain gifts Guyana vaccines

The Government of Spain has gifted Guyana 50,000 special Pfizer vaccines that can be used to vaccinate 25,000 children, aged five to 11, against the novel coronavirus, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony has said.

“This was one of the vaccines we were trying to get for quite a while now,” the Health Minister said on Tuesday at the sidelines of an event in Georgetown.

He also announced that Guyana should receive another 50,000 doses from the COVAX facility soon. Because the Pfizer vaccine is a two-dose jab, another 25,000 children will be able to benefit.

Since November 2021, the local health authorities have been trying to secure these special vaccines to administer to children. To date, only adults and teenagers have received COVID-19 vaccines.

With the country finally receiving a quantity of the jabs, Dr. Anthony said that he does not envisage any challenges to vaccination uptake.

“Here we are going to be very dependent on teachers and parents.

“…I think because this is a relatively new category of persons, we won’t have any challenges with uptake,” he emphasised.

Children aged five to 11 years old require two Pfizer doses that measure about 10 micrograms. Comparatively, the older children (those aged 12 to 18) and adults receive doses that measure about 30 micrograms.

According to reports, these doses have to be mixed with certain amounts of saline before they are administered to both the children and adults. Once mixed, 0.2 millilitres (mL) dose is administered.

And to ensure that the required dosage for children aged five to 11 (10 micrograms) is not mixed up with the dosage administered to adults, the Pfizer Company has introduced a different vaccine packaging- that is, there is a unique label and different cap colour.

Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony said that Guyana is currently administering the Sinopharm, Johnson and Johnson, and Pfizer vaccines to adults. Pfizer vaccines are being administered to teenagers too.

A quantity of Modern vaccines, he said, is expected in a month’s time.