COVID-19 vaccination trend has “plateaued” among younger category – Health Minister

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony on Monday expressed that vaccination trends against COVID-19 have plateaued, especially in the younger age categories.
As he was delivering the COVID update, the Health Minister expressed concerns over stagnant vaccination numbers, fearing that it can lead to higher infections.
“The trend has actually plateaued and we are hoping that more persons would be interested in getting vaccinated. I believe that with vaccination, even if you get vaccinated, it is going to protect you. Unfortunately, not a lot of people have been coming to our vaccination sites to get vaccinated. That’s very worrying because if people don’t protect themselves, they can get infected and some of them are going to have the more severe form of COVID,” Dr Anthony relayed.
In Guyana, 35,495 first doses or 48.7 per cent of the 12 to 17 age group has been covered. Second doses account for 25,986 doses or 35.6 per cent.
A fraction of persons suffering from the severe form of COVID are usually hospitalised and some may even die. In this light, the Minister urged parents to get involved and encourage their children to take the shots.
“We keep trying to encourage persons to get vaccinated. Unfortunately, we’re not seeing huge numbers of young people. I think the adult population, the parents, have to get involved. They have to encourage their children, bring their children to the site to be vaccinated. If you’re under 18, we would not do the vaccines without parental permission.”
In the five to 11 age group, the Health Ministry has administered 7332 first doses or 7.2 per cent; along with 2397 second doses or 2.3 per cent.
For adults, there is a coverage of 435,469 or 86.8 per cent first doses; and 345,139 second doses or 67.3 per cent. Meanwhile, there is an uptake of over 71,700 booster doses.

New cases
Total infections of COVID-19 in Guyana have reached 70,470, after another 13 new cases were reported on Monday.
There are still 1275 confirmed deaths, with one person in the Intensive Care Unit. From the latest dashboard, 15 persons are in institutional isolation, 420 in home isolation and three in institutional quarantine.
Additionally, a total of 68,759 persons have recovered. Meanwhile, 682,303 tests have been processed to date.
The Health Ministry is currently tracking 436 active cases in Guyana. Hospitalised patients account for 13, inclusive of eight at the Infectious Diseases Hospital.
There are 234 active positives in Region Four, with hotspots being Kitty, Ruimveldt, Diamond and sections of the East Coast. In Region Three, 65 infections are being monitored. This is followed by 51 in Region Six and 35 in Region 10.
“It’s because of the population size that we’re seeing this amount of cases,” the Health Minister identified.
In the Region of the Americas, that is, Latin America and the Caribbean, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased to 172 million while the death toll in the Region has gone up to 2.7 million.
If anyone is displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 or needs any additional information, they are asked to contact the COVID-19 Hotline 231-1166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit www.health.gov.gy.