Guyana received 52,800 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine doses from the Government of Spain for children ages 5-11. The vaccines arrived this morning via the Amerijit Cargo at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport in Georgetown. Some 26,400 children are expected to benefit from this valuable donation.
On-site as the vaccines arrived were Dr Frank Anthony, Minister of Health; Priya Manickchand, Minister of Education; Fernando Nogales Alvarez, Non-Resident Ambassador, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Spain to Guyana; Dr Ertenisa Hamilton- Director of Family and Primary Health Care Services and students and teachers of the Meten-Meer-Zorg Primary School.
During his brief remarks, the Health Minister expressed his gratitude to the Ambassador and the Government and the People of Spain for this timely donation.
He stressed that vaccination remains the best option to reduce the incidence of COVID-19 in Guyana. The Health Ministry is therefore encouraging all parents to get their children immunised as it will reduce their chances of becoming severely ill from the deadly COVID-19 disease.
Dr Anthony said that while the majority of the confirmed COVID-19 cases to date are adults, one-third of the 65,272 cases thus far are among children.
The Ministry will commence administering the vaccines on Saturday, June 11 at its drive-thru exercise on the tarmac of the National Culture Centre from 9:00hrs to 15:00hrs. This will follow a close collaboration with the Ministry of Education which will see the rollout of a series of vaccination outreaches at selected schools countrywide.
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