“Do not hesitate to take COVID-19 vaccine” – Region 3 Chair tells residents

Positive coronavirus cases in Guyana have steeply increased within the past month, claiming a whopping 65 lives in April.

Chairman for Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara), Mohamed Inshan Ayube on Saturday urged residents within his zone and the country to protect themselves by getting vaccinated.
While April would have started with 977 confirmed cases in the region, this number increased to 1489 by the end of the month – a total of 512 new cases. Ayube shared that Guyanese should display a sense of responsibility in safeguarding their health without hesitation.
“I beseech you on behalf of the Government and the region to ensure that you take the protective measures to counter this pandemic. You have to go and take the vaccine. Do not be hesitant. Your hesitance might be detrimental to you. I appeal to you,” the Regional Chairman expressed.
In the regional effort, it was highlighted that officials have been constantly mitigating challenges to ensure that health facilities are properly equipped. If persons do not take heed to the precautions and get infected, it can overwhelm the health system.
“The Regional Executive Officer, the Department of Health and the RHO is really working to ensure that the health facilities are equipped to meet those challenges…The pandemic continues to take lives in our country.”
Amid the initial concerns regarding blood clotting with the AstraZeneca vaccine, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony has already clarified that the World Health Organisation through the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunisation (SAGE) deemed it safe, having witnessed that the benefits outweigh the risks.
“We have had a number of other expert entities review the vaccine, such as the European medical regulatory authority, and they concluded similarly that the vaccine benefits outweigh the risk…The AstraZeneca vaccine is right now used in many countries and because the benefits outweigh the risks, most countries that had initially put a pause on the vaccines have now restarted,” he stated last week.
Dr Anthony added that from the thousands of people immunised with the AstraZeneca shots in Guyana, there were no reported cases of blood clotting.
“We are very pleased with the results that we have had with these vaccines so far and we’ll continue to use them. Many of the persons who received the first dose would be due for their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine maybe in a month’s time and we encourage them to come and take their second dose.”
Two versions of the vaccine – produced by AstraZeneca-SKBio (Republic of Korea) and the Serum Institute of India – have been listed for emergency use by the World Health Organisation. When the vaccine underwent SAGE consideration, it had undergone review by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
Apart from the AstraZeneca vaccine, Guyana has also been using Sinopharm and Sputnik V, manufactured by China and Russia respectively. Since then, over 136,000 persons received their first dose without complications and some have already returned for their second shot. (G12)