Hinterland parents more receptive to COVID-19 children’s vaccination

…74 new cases recorded

Following his announcement of the latest COVID-19 vaccination statistics, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony has revealed that parents in the hinterland regions have been more active in vaccinating their children against the virus than those on the coastland.
During a COVID-19 update on Friday, Dr Anthony said the Health Ministry would work with parents in increasing the vaccination rate of children aged from 5 years to 11 and above.
“I think some parents now have been bringing out their children, and we have noticed, in some of the interior locations, that parents are taking it a little bit more seriously than (those) on the Coast. So, we’ll continue to work with those parents who are interested in getting their children vaccinated,” the Health Minister has said.
Current COVID-19 vaccination stats reveal that 6,964 persons, or 6.8% of children aged between 5 and 11 years, have received the first dose of a COVID vaccine; while 2,061 persons, or 2% of the abovementioned children, have received a second dose of same.
Other vaccination stats show that 445,168 persons, or 86.8% of Guyana’s adult population, have received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine; while 344,803 persons, or 67.2% of the adult population, have received a second dose.
The uptake rate of booster doses still distantly trails the rate of vaccination doses taken, with only 71,306 booster doses having been administered.
For children aged 12 to 17 years, latest vaccination figures indicate that 35,435 persons, or 48.6% of this age cohort, have received a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine; while 25,926 persons, or 35.5% of this cohort, have received a second dose.

New cases
Meanwhile, 74 new COVID-19 cases have been recorded in the past 24 hours. This now takes the total number of confirmed cases in Guyana to 70,083, according to the Health Ministry’s updated COVID-19 Dashboard for Friday.
However, only 545 of these cases are currently active, with one patient being in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the remaining persons being in isolation – 528 in home isolation and the other 16 in institutional isolation.
The COVID-19 death toll in the country currently stands at 1271, with the latest fatality recorded on July 25 being a 74-year-old male from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica).
During the month of July, a total of 16 persons died from the virus, but no fatalities have been recorded thus far in August.
According to the latest data, 42 more persons have recovered from the virus, taking the number of recovered COVID-19 cases to 68,267 since the virus outbreak in Guyana, when compared to the figure reported on the previous day.
To date, a total of 678,643 tests have been conducted countrywide, and of this number, positive results have been returned for some 32,106 males and 37,977 females.
Of the 74 new cases recorded on Friday, four were from Region One (Barima-Waini); Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) and Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) respectively; 36 were from Region Four (Demerara-Mahaica); one was from Region Five (Mahaica-Berbice); 13 were from Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne); two were from Region Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni); four were from Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo), and the remaining six cases were from Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice). No cases have been recorded in Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni).
According to the World Health Organization’s recent figures, some 578,148,444 confirmed cases were reported globally, along with 6,405,080 deaths. In the Region of the Americas, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has increased to 171,312,848, while the death toll has gone up to 2,791,967.
As it relates to vaccination against COVID-19, WHO has also reported that a total of 12,308,330,588 doses have been administered worldwide.
If anyone is displaying any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19, or needs any additional information in regard to COVID-19, they are asked to contact the COVID-19 Hotline on 231-1166, 226-7480, or 624-6674 immediately, or visit www.health.gov.gy.