More than 25,000 Guyanese have been vaccinated against COVID-19 since the vaccination programme began earlier this month, says President, Dr. Irfaan Ali.
Since January 2021, the Government of Guyana (GoG) has approached several countries, vaccine manufacturers, and other agencies to procure vaccines for Guyanese. The government of India, Russia and China were engaged, as well as the European Union, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), COVAX, Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna.
Dr. Ali said that other than the donations from India and China, Guyana is now procuring vaccines from various sources. He said that his government is aggressively pursuing a strategy to vaccinate as many Guyanese as would be necessary to attain herd immunity, and eventually ensuring all Guyanese are vaccinated.
The goal is to vaccinate as many as 10,000 citizens per day, he said. To achieve this, the government is embarking on an integrative approach, including Cabinet oversight, local government bodies, civil society, medical and nursing students, and the medical brigade of the Guyana Defense Force.
“These personnel will be trained to assist in documentation of citizens so as to expedite the vaccination process. Currently, the focus is on health workers and citizens 60 years and older. Early in the new week, the vaccination programme will be expanded to all persons 40 years and older. To aggressively expand the programme, the Government of Guyana has procured 200,000 doses of vaccines and is exploring the further procurement of another 200,000 doses aimed at achieving herd immunity in the fastest possible time,” he said in his national address this evening.
