…over 200,000 1st doses of vaccine administered
The novel coronavirus has claimed two more lives – taking the country’s deaths to 391.
New fatalities are a 44-year-old male from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica) and a 94-year-old woman from Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara). They both died while receiving care at a medical facility on Monday, ending the month of May with a whopping 92 deaths.
One day prior, there were four reported deaths: an 81-year-old male from Region 10, an 83-year-old female from Region Four, a 30-year-old male from Region Nine and a 65-year-old male from Region Three.
Meanwhile, cases of the virus also increased by 162 on Tuesday, raising the confirmed positives in Guyana to 17,114.
There are 21 patients seeking treatment in the Intensive Care Unit, 99 in institutional isolation, 1745 in home isolation and four in institutional quarantine. In total, 14,879 persons recovered completely. Since the pandemic started, 155,228 individuals were tested – of which 8481 males and 8633 females were positive.
An analysis showed an alarming 105 new cases being detected in Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), followed by 39 in Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica), nine in Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice), three in Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice); two in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) and Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara); and one in Region One (Barima-Waini) and Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).
The statistics in Regions Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Eight (Potaro-Siparuni) are constant at 1220 and 365, respectively.
Vaccine milestone
The Health Ministry reported on Tuesday that first doses in the COVID-19 vaccine administration have surpassed 200,000 in Guyana, following weeks of activities to immunise the entire adult population.
Lauding this as a significant milestone, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony shared that the 201,347 persons represent 41.4 per cent of the adult population.
“I think we have hit what I would consider a very significant milestone because we now have 201,347 persons who would have received the first dose of their vaccine. That’s a significant milestone…Now we have to make sure while we continue getting more people their first doses, that we want to also make sure that they come back for their second doses,” he underscored during the daily briefing.
It has been just over three months since Guyana started its vaccination campaign, to which 69,489 have been completely immunised. The country’s adult population is measured at about 500,000.
“That would mean that now, 14.3 per cent of our adult population have been fully immunised. We are going to work during this week to get more people to become fully immunised. We want to see more people coming in to get their second doses. You can receive your first doses for AstraZeneca anytime between four to 12 weeks; for the Sputnik V, anytime between four to 12 weeks and there’s still a few people who has the Sinopharm vaccine that did not come back for their second dose.”
He noted that the vaccines have an expiry date, as is the case with all medical supplies, and persons should take the opportunity to get their jabs while these resources are available.
If anyone is displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 or needs any additional information, contact the COVID-19 Hotline 231-1166, 226-7480 or 624-6674 immediately or visit www.health.gov.gy.
