Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony says measures are already in place to ensure thorough medical checks are conducted before an individual is vaccinated against COVID-19. The Ministry also has a plan for follow-up care after the vaccine has been administered.
Minister Anthony has said healthcare workers have benefited from ongoing training since the onset of the disease here including personnel who administer vaccines, to ensure the public’s safety.
“Our staff has been trained, and they will talk to persons who are coming for vaccination so that those persons understand which vaccine they are getting and what are the possible side effects.”
“After someone receives the vaccine, the staff will keep that person at least for half an hour and observe to make sure that they don’t have any adverse reaction. If by chance they have an adverse reaction, medicine will be there to give them, and so they will be okay. We have prepared a system that when we start our vaccination programme we will be monitoring for adverse events. Persons can also report and we will investigate,” Dr. Anthony said.
To date, all of the vaccines approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization are double dosage. The Minister said health personnel would ensure that recipients understand the dosage before administering the vaccine.
“Persons would need to understand the dose of the vaccine and what is specifically required of them. So, you get the first dose and then you get a date on your clinic card to tell you the next time you have to come back. Some of the vaccines that are currently in use, persons might have to come back after three weeks, in other cases, persons probably have to go back in about 28 days,” Minister Anthony said.
Through the COVAX mechanism, Guyana is set to receive 104,000 COVID-19 vaccines. Some 52,000 persons, including frontline workers, the elderly and persons with co-morbidities would be among the first to benefit.
Guyana would also benefit from the donation of 20,000 Covid vaccines from the Government of China. Additionally, Guyana is poised to receive 149,000 from the African Union.
Last Saturday, President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali, during his address to the nation, said his Government was having productive discussions with the Governments of India, China and Russia to acquire more vaccines for the country.
