7,000 bivalent COVID shots to arrive in Guyana this month – Dr Anthony

– 1 more death recorded, 51 new cases detected

Government is expecting the arrival of 7,000 doses of the Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 vaccines, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony has announced.
These vaccines, ordered through the COVAX mechanism, are expected to arrive by the last week of January 2023.
“The bivalent vaccines are more effective… We’re expecting to have those vaccines by the last week of January. Once we get those vaccines, we’ll urge people to come out and get the bivalent vaccine,” the Minister said during the Covid-19 update on Friday.
The bivalent COVID-19 vaccines include a component of the original virus strain, to provide broad protection against COVID-19, and a component of the omicron variant, to provide better protection against COVID-19 caused by the omicron variant.
The Minister has reminded that Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, and Sinopharm vaccines remain available for the population at present.
Meanwhile, Dr Anthony has said that as cases continue to rise, Government is encouraging persons to get their booster shots and still take the necessary precautions.
“It is recommended that for persons to get the bivalent vaccines, they should get their primary doses – which means the first and second dose. This is something we will be looking at. Once we get it, we will put out suitable advisories so that people can access these vaccines.”
At a later date, more of the bivalent vaccines should become available for Guyana.
In managing the virus locally, Guyana has used Sputnik V, Sinopharm, Johnson and Johnson, Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca vaccines to immunize the population. Thereafter, Mrna from Moderna and Pfizer were sourced.
In the distribution of primary doses of the vaccines, the Health Ministry has recorded an 80 percent coverage, while 40 percent have been administered their second dose. In Guyana, approximately 77,100 persons have taken their first booster dose, but only 4,682 have returned for their second dose.
“We’re urging persons who have not received their booster doses to come to one of our vaccination sites and get their booster doses. We have seen that, with Omicron, it has at least 500 different subvariants,” Dr Anthony has cautioned.

Infections
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has reported that another death has been recorded from the virus, thus raising the death toll to 1,290. The latest fatality is a 75-year-old male from Region Two, who died on January 3, 2022. In addition, 51 new cases have been recorded, raising confirmed cases to 72,397.
There are 17 persons in institutional isolation, 311 in home isolation, and four in institutional quarantine.
In the country, surveillance is being done for 329 active cases across the regions. Broken down, this translates to 51 in Region One (Barima-Waini); 39 in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam); 23 in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); 124 in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica); nine in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); 61 in Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni); one in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni); one in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) and 10 in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
Additionally, there are 17 persons in hospitals – 13 of whom are at Ocean View while two are in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
“People need to be more cautious as they go about their business. A lot of people complain of flu-like symptoms. However, most of the persons who complain of flu, they’re not going to get their COVID test; and in many instances, instead of flu, it can be COVID. So, our appeal to everyone is: if you have flu-like symptoms, you should go and get a COVID-19 test, just to rule out COVID,” the Minister has admonished.