Surges in cases are expected in regions of Guyana with low vaccine uptake, Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony has warned. His comment comes against the backdrop of the country’s death toll surpassing the 1,000 mark and with over 1,200 active cases in the country. Guyana has recorded 38,217 cases since it confirmed the virus’ presence here back in March 2020.
The Minister lamented the decrease in vaccine uptake in several regions, warning that hospitalization and death numbers are almost certain to increase in those areas in the coming days with the Christmas season in effect.
See below the regional breakdown of second dose uptake:
Region One – 45.7%
Region Two – 44.1%
Region Three – 53.4%
Region Four – 63.2%
Region Five – 56%
Region Six – 53.4%
Region Seven – 54.5%
Region Eight – 38.3%
Region Nine – 55.7%
Region Ten – 27%
“So, looking at these numbers, you can see that there are some regions that are doing fairly well, like in Region Four, which is our most populated region…But there are others here that have not done so well…So we need to get persons in these regions to really step up and make sure that they get vaccinated…So, there’s a lot of room for improvement by regions. Unfortunately, those regions that have low vaccination rates, we can expect to see surges in cases,” he said.
He added that while “things may appear to be calm” in those regions with low vaccination numbers, this will likely change and not for the better because of the lack of immunity. He is again urging Guyanese to get vaccinated while calling on influential persons residing in those communities to encourage residents to take a jab.
