President Dr Irfaan Ali has received his first jab of the Covid-19 vaccine and he is encouraging all Guyanese who have the opportunity to take the vaccine, to do so.
“I want to take this opportunity to encourage every Guyanese to take the vaccine… I am sure that it will help us as we all work together in getting ahead of this pandemic,” the Head of State said shortly after receiving his first shot.
The Government has begun to offer the vaccines to members of the Cabinet and Parliamentarians. The vaccine is also being rolled out among frontline healthcare workers and the country’s elderly population.
Prime Minister Mark Phillips, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo, former Presidents Donald Ramotar and David Granger have already taken the vaccine.
Meanwhile, President Ali assured that the nation that all efforts are being made to ensure everyone is immunised by the end of the year.
“We’re sparing no resources in having every single Guyanese vaccinated before the end of the year,” he expressed.
The President noted that engagements are ongoing with a number of suppliers as well as the country’s bilateral partners such as the Organisation of Islamic Conference and United Arabs Emirates (UAE) to source more vaccines.
“Only today, I had engagement with the Organization of Islamic Conference. We continue to reach out directly to suppliers of the Russian vaccine, Sinopharm, Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca. We’ve also reached out to other suppliers in the UAE, because you know it is becoming a global shortage in getting the vaccines itself.”
Guyana has already received donations of vaccines from Barbados, China, and India.
