Pfizer vaccine extended to pregnant, breastfeeding women

The Health Ministry has now included pregnant and breastfeeding women in the ranks of persons who are eligible for vaccination with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Since 146,250 doses of the vaccine arrived as a donation from the United States Government, the Pfizer jab has been used to vaccinate only the adolescent population, that is ages 12 to 18.
On Tuesday, Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony informed that pregnant and breastfeeding women could now benefit from the Pfizer vaccine.
“If they’re pregnant or breastfeeding, we would consider them because apart from those who are 12 to 18, we have now extended the persons who will be eligible for the Pfizer vaccines. That includes pregnant women and breastfeeding women. We have been rolling that out for the past week and we expect that we’ll get more people coming to get the vaccine,” he stated.
In Guyana, 41.4 per cent of persons have been completely immunised against COVID-19, representing 212,477 of the adult population. The Health Ministry has administered 362,919 first doses, covering 70.7 per cent of the population, and some persons are still to return for their second shot.
Vaccination for adolescents stands at 25,180 first doses or 34.5 per cent; with 13,352 or 18.3 per cent returning for their second dose.
“With other approvals in the pipeline, the Ministry will make other extensions. We’re expecting that in November, the US FDA [Food and Drug Administration] would approve the Pfizer vaccine for 11 to five, and once that is done, we’ll be able to extend vaccination for that age group as well,” the Minister said.
Pfizer, one of two double-dose vaccines which have been approved for children, is proven to be 95 per cent effective at preventing laboratory-confirmed infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 in people who receive two doses.
Later in the week, the COVAX mechanism is expected to deliver 100,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
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).
The mechanism aims to secure 1.3 billion doses for 92 low- and middle-income countries by the end of the year. Guyana has been included among 10 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean that are receiving vaccines at no cost through the Advance Market Commitment (AMC). Thus far, 120,000 AstraZeneca vaccines have been sent to immunise Guyanese.
Since the virus was first detected in the Wuhan province of China, there have been several mutations. From the first-discovered Alpha variant in the United Kingdom last year, authorities have moved to trace the Beta and Gamma variants. However, the Delta variant has been dominant in many countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. It has caused a resurgence of infections in Portugal and current spikes in Russia.
In unvaccinated populations, there are higher cases and deaths. (G12)