“Zero” COVID-19 vaccine uptake over Easter weekend – Health Minister

Over the course of the Easter weekend, the Health Ministry did not record an increase in COVID-19 vaccination, as the drop in immunisation rates persists.

Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony shared the country’s current statistics regarding COVID vaccination on Tuesday, where he expressed concerns over the low numbers. Since last Friday and throughout the weekend, persons visiting vaccination outlets ceased.
“From Good Friday to now, we basically recorded zero vaccination,” Dr Anthony identified.
Adult vaccination statistics show 439,205 first doses and 338,303 second doses. This is equivalent to 85.6 per cent and 66 per cent, respectively. In the adolescent category, 34,416 persons or 47.2 per cent received a first dose while 27,166 second doses or 34.5 per cent were recorded.
He pointed out that especially in the adolescent cohort, which spans ages 12 to 17, significant work is needed to propel the figures. This is especially as the date for school reopening nears.
“There is a lot more work to be done with this age group. Unfortunately, we have been seeing about 100 to 200 vaccinations per day. That includes both first and second doses. That’s pretty low and these numbers have been stagnant for quite a while. I’m hoping that with school reopening shortly, that more parents would give permission for their child to get vaccinated.”
Along with collaborative efforts from the Education Ministry, the Health Minister is encouraging efforts from parents to consent to the vaccination initiative. All schools will be fully reopened on April 25. This reopening comes over two years after the COVID pandemic struck, forcing a closure to reduce an infection spread. Now, when school reopens after the Easter holiday break, all students will be returning to a classroom setting.
The Health Minister noted, “We have been talking with the Ministry of Education. We want to promote some school-based vaccination programmes where the Ministry would be sending in the vaccinators to schools and we’d be able to administer the vaccines there. The catch in all of that is that parents would have to give permission. We’re hoping that this is something we can do jointly”.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry would have collaborated with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to conduct surveys on the reasons behind vaccine hesitancy and low immunisation rates. According to the Minister, stakeholders found several factors pertaining to myths. A workshop was conducted for healthcare workers to effectively counteract these myths with facts.
“The workshops on a whole, have been quite successful. We have gone to the regions where we had low uptake of vaccines – Region 10, Region Eight, Region Seven, Region Two. The understanding is that if our healthcare workers and other stakeholders better understand the reasons why people should be vaccinated, they can become champions of getting people vaccinated.”
In addition, training has continued for civil society organisations, faith-based communities, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) among others.
“We’re hoping that they can talk to people and help to organise these vaccine drives,” he concluded.