COVID-19 vaccine rate moving upward with some regions lagging
Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony on Monday announced that more than 200,000 persons have been vaccinated throughout the country, with Region 4 leading the trail with a little over 95,000 people from the region receiving their first doses.
Responding to questions posed to him by Opposition MP and show Health Minister Dr. Karen Cummings, the Health Minister listed the total number of vaccinations that have been given to citizens per region. Anthony explained that the government has acquired a list of the adult population for each region, while continuing to provide the sufficient number of vaccines to match these numbers. “We have looked at the adult population of each region and we have vaccines allocated for each of those regions,” Dr. Anthony explained.
According to Dr. Anthony, Region 4 has a total vaccination number of 95,802 persons. This number, he says, is juxtaposed against the total adult population for the region which stands at 203, 046. This means that 47.2% of persons have been vaccinated for the region, with a remainder of 52.8% to be vaccinated.
On the other hand, Region 10 currently stands as the region with the lowest vaccination rate. Minister Anthony highlighted that as of June 13, 2021, Region 10’s vaccination number stands at 3,538 persons, with a total adult population of 26,063. With this figure, Region 10’s vaccination rate stands at a dastardly 13.6%.
The Minister of Health took the opportunity to reiterate that the government has already secured enough vaccines to cover the total adult population of the country. “Just to say, Mr. Speaker…we have procured vaccines for all adult persons in Guyana,” Dr. Anthony assured.
In further deliberations during Monday’s sitting of the National Assembly, the minister noted that the government has purchased 200,000 doses of the Russian-manufactured Sputnik-V vaccines, which has accumulated to a cost of $957 million. This package will consist of 100,00 of the first component (first dose) of the vaccine, and 100,000 of the second component (second dose). These vaccines, the minister said, were acquired as a result of consultations done with the United Arab Emirates.
Additionally, 100,000 doses of the Chinese-manufactured Sinopharm vaccines have also been bought at an accumulated cost of $326 million.
It is unclear whether both vaccines have arrived and when they will begin to be distributed.
Below is a table showing the number of persons vaccinated in each region, the total adult population, along with each region’s individual vaccination rates.
