Regions 2, 8 & 10 record lowest vaccination rates – Health Minister

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony has cautioned that areas with low vaccination coverage will see increased cases emerging, and persons are likely to contract a more severe form of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19).
In Tuesday’s briefing, Regions Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam), Eight (Potaro-Siparuni), and 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) were identified as areas with the lowest vaccination rates.
Given this trend, Dr Anthony related that regions with high vaccination rates will see a decline in the number of positives, but on the other end of the spectrum, others will see a spike among the unvaccinated.
“What we will probably eventually see is that in the areas where there is a high level of vaccination, we will see a decline in the cases as we have been seeing in some of the regions. But in the areas where we have a lot of people still remaining unvaccinated, unfortunately, we are going to have more cases. Some of those cases are going to be severe and would require hospitalisation,” he outlined.
In recent weeks, the country’s active cases have dropped significantly and now stand over 1800. This has been attributed to higher vaccination coverage among the population. However, Dr Anthony warned that unvaccinated individuals should also take the vaccine to protect themselves.
“These are regions with relatively low vaccination rates, both first and second doses. We would therefore expect at some point when we get cases from these regions, we will probably see some of the more severe cases coming out that require hospitalisation. If people remain unvaccinated, some of them would die. To prevent all of that, it’s basically to go and get vaccinated.”
According to the World Health Organisation, most people suffering from the coronavirus experience mild symptoms to moderate illness. Some 10 to 15 per cent of the cases progress to severe diseases and five per cent become critically ill.
Older people and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illnesses.
Most common symptoms include fever, dry cough, and tiredness but can include aches and pains, sore throat, diarrhoea, conjunctivitis, headache, loss of taste or smell; and rash on skin, or discoloration of fingers or toes.
The severe form can result in difficulty breathing or shortness of breath, chest pain or pressure, and loss of speech or movement.
Since the launch of the vaccination campaign, 396,840 persons or 77.4 per cent of the adult population took a first dose. However, only 271,206 or 52.9 per cent are completely vaccinated.
Statistics also show 28,769 first doses and 19,946 second doses among children. This means 27.3 per cent of that age cohort is completely vaccinated. In order to achieve herd immunity, at least 90 per cent of Guyana’s population needs to be immunised.