Govt willing to purchase Pfizer pills if local companies produce – Health Minister

…3 unvaccinated women die from COVID, 91 new cases detected

Pfizer has signed with a United Nations-backed group a deal that allows generic manufacturers to make its experimental anti-viral COVID-19 pill. This would see pills being produced for use in 95 countries, which accounts for over 50 per cent of the world’s population.
Guyana had said it was mulling the use of the pills locally, and with this new development, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony has indicated that Guyana is willing to purchase the pills from local private companies interested in producing same.
In Thursday’s COVID-19 update, it was posited that the Public Sector does not have such manufacturing capacity. If private companies do not take up the task, Government would wait until production commences to purchase the pills from other suppliers.
“Here, in Guyana, there are private companies that would have the manufacturing capabilities. If those companies work with the WHO patent office and are able to bring that particular medicine to Guyana, it is something that we would want to procure. If that does not happen — because it would require a lot of investment –then certainly, with the number of countries now that are going to be producing this medication, we’re certain that we’ll be able to get the medicine at an affordable price once production has started,” the Minister stated.
According to him, the efficacy of the drug has proven promising enough to add to the country’s current treatment regimen against the deadly virus. “We have reviewed the efficacy of the medication; it seems to be working quite well. Therefore, as soon as it is made available and it is licensed, then that’s something we’ll want to look at, and certainly a medication that we’ll want to add to the meds that we already have.”
Paxlovid, developed by Pfizer, and Molnupiravir, developed by Merck and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, are the two pills on the market which have proven to significantly reduce both hospitalisations and deaths.

New deaths, cases
The Health Ministry on Thursday reported that three more unvaccinated persons who tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) have died. This takes the total number of deaths from the pandemic to 968.
All three persons were unvaccinated females from Region Four – aged 69, 73 and 85. With an increase of 91 cases, the total confirmed positives have climbed to 37,090.
There are 16 patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), 59 in institutional isolation, 1825 in home isolation, and eight in institutional quarantine. Throughout the pandemic, 377,534 individuals were tested.
There are 2,049 active cases being monitored across the country. Some 64 persons are hospitalised – 37 of which are at the Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal. Sixteen persons are being treated in the Intensive Care Unit.
Regional breakdown of new cases shows three persons have tested positive in Region One (Barima-Waini); eight in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam); 38 in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); one in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica); 30 in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice); 30 in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); two in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), and one in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice).
Cases in Regions Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) remain unchanged.

Children’s immunization
Meanwhile, slow vaccination coverage for children against the novel coronavirus is one of the recent concerns for health authorities, as the country fights to reach herd immunity within the soonest possible timeframe.
Dr Anthony reported that 28,551 children, or 39.1 per cent of that demographic, have been immunised with a first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. To amplify the current statistics, he noted that further collaboration is needed with the Education Ministry to get school-aged children vaccinated.
“One of the challenges we have been having is not a lot of people within this age group, the 12-to-17, we’ve had a challenge with how many persons are coming forward to get the vaccine. It is an area of concern for us. We have to redouble our efforts with the Ministry of Education to make sure that more of the persons who are at school or within the school age, that they get their vaccination,” Dr Anthony underscored.
A key way of raising the uptake, he noted, is through support from parents and guardians to ensure that children take the vaccine. The Minister outlined that it is especially important, since youths are developing severe forms of the virus.
“One of the big challenges that we have is while children might experience a milder form of the COVID disease, in some children, they have multisystemic disorders, and this can lead to severe forms of the disease. It is something that we have to monitor, so children need to be vaccinated to keep them safe. The Pfizer is what we’re using to ensure that we vaccinate this population.”
The Health Ministry, in collaboration with the Education Ministry, will commence COVID-19 vaccination for children within the age cohort of five to 11 as of Friday, November 19.
A memorandum seen by this publication on Tuesday announced this move, which will see administration of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to this subset of children.
In Guyana, 394,094 persons, or 76.6 per cent of adults, have received one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Of this number, 266,127 persons, or 51.9 per cent, have returned for their second jab.