Persons over 40 to start receiving COVID-19 vaccines today
The Health Ministry has lowered the age range for COVID-19 vaccine eligibility and now, persons 40 years and above are qualified to take their shots.
This initiative commences today, March 31, 2021, and will see anyone within the bracket getting the jabs. These persons must present a valid form of identification at the vaccination site within their region and thereafter, the coronavirus shot will be administered.
The lowered age limit comes after more vaccines have been made available to Guyana. On Monday, the COVAX mechanism would have delivered 24,000 AstraZeneca doses, which will be used to continue the country’s vaccination campaign.
Persons have been taking their COVID-19 vaccine to protect themselves
Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony informed on Tuesday that the Russian-made Sputnik V vaccine is also slated to arrive shortly. In total, Guyana will purchase 200,000 doses from this arrangement.
“We’ll start administering the doses during this week and then we’ll wait between eight to 12 weeks when we’ll give the second shot. I think this would certainly help to advance our vaccination programme here. Later in the week, we’re also expecting the Sputnik doses to start flowing,” the Minister shared.
Guyana had first started its campaign with healthcare workers and then moved to persons 60 years and older. Authorities had explained that as more jabs become available, the age requirement would drop.
Dr Anthony expressed that the shots from COVAX will propel the country’s vaccination campaign further and extend the reach. He assured that the rollout will be seamless. Overall, it was highlighted that there is an uptake of the vaccine across the country.
COVAX is a partnership between the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi – the Vaccine Alliance, the Pan American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Guyana is included in ten countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that are receiving vaccines at no cost through the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) and is the first AMC country in the Caribbean to receive the vaccines.
With the first delivery this week, more vaccines are expected to arrive successively during 2021. According to the first round of allocations, Guyana is expected to continue receiving doses through May until it reaches 100,800, the amount specified by the global mechanism.
The country’s vaccination programme has been led by 80,000 vaccines from India, 20,000 Sinopharm doses from China and 3000 through the Barbadian Government. The 200,000 doses of the Russia-manufactured Sputnik V vaccines will arrive in batches of 50,000.
President Irfaan Ali had disclosed that the country is buying these jabs to the tune of a whopping US$4 million, with Guyana paying US$20 per dose for the Russian vaccine but according to the President, Government cannot put a price tag on the health of the citizenry.
