No indication of Omicron reaching Guyana – Dr Anthony

…samples will be sent for genomic sequencing

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony on Friday stated that from an epidemiological standpoint, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 has not reached the shores of Guyana as yet.
In the Friday briefing, the Minister said once this strain is present, cases would double in three days. This trend has not been detected by health authorities.
“If the Omicron variant is in Guyana, we’ll see a rapid increase in cases because in countries where it’s circulating, cases double. Every three days, you have a doubling of the cases. We have not seen that as yet so from an epidemiological point of view, we have not seen that. That’s an indication that it’s not here as yet,” he suggested.
The new strain has been detected in 100 countries – an indication that it will reach Guyana at some point in time. Upon signs that it is here, he said provisions are in place to send samples for genomic sequencing. For variants to be detected, samples need to undergo genomic sequencing to examine the strain.
“Given the way it is spreading around the world, we would anticipate at some point that it would get to Guyana. We have mechanisms in place that when we have such suspected cases, we’ll be able to take those samples and send them to a lab that will be able to do the sequencing.”
Data surrounding the new strain points to higher transmissibility and reinfection. It is said to be 5.2 times more infectious than the Delta variant. Nevertheless, it was stated that Guyana still has cases of the Delta variant circulating.
“At this point in time we don’t feel that we have Omicron but we still have a lot of Delta cases and Delta is more severe in terms of its hospitalisation,” Dr Anthony stated.
Since the reopening of airports in October 2020, there have been 64 imported cases. Persons are continuously screened as they arrive in the country, along with the requirement that they be vaccinated completely and in the possession of a negative PCR or antigen test.

5 to 11 vaccines
Providing an update on the vaccines for the five to 11 age cohort, the Minister said Caricom is actively working to secure an agreement with Pfizer-BioNTech.
“We have provided that information to the Caricom Secretariat and the arrangements that they have had with Pfizer before, I think they’re working on similar arrangements to acquire vaccines for children between 11 to five. We have indicated an interest and we have given them the quantity that we’re looking for,” he said.
Even if the jabs are unavailable as a donation, Dr Anthony said Government is prepared to set aside funds to purchase the vaccines. Attention is also being paid to oral antiretrovirals since the FDA would have given approval for two such drugs – Paxlovid and Molnupiravir.
“We’re following that and we are working on mechanisms whereby we can actually procure them to get them in Guyana as early as possible. These are new things and we really would like to have them, especially the Paxlovid because the efficacy seems to be very good.”