Amid global travel concerns surrounding persons who have received mixed vaccines, Health Advisor Dr Leslie Ramsammy has explained that those persons – once they are fully inoculated – will be allowed to entry Guyana.
“As long as they have a double dose,” the Health Advisor noted.
Mixing vaccines means administering one brand of vaccine for a patient’s first shot, followed by a vaccine made by a different manufacturer for the second dose.
Several ongoing studies are investigating the effects of mixing coronavirus shots. Data has been released from mixed trials in Spain and the United Kingdom, which suggest that mixing vaccines leads to a strong immune response and sometimes outperforms two doses of the same vaccine.
In Germany, a third study also revealed that the immune response of mixing coronavirus doses was better than two AstraZeneca shots and as good as or better than receiving two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
Several countries including Bahrain, Bhutan, Canada, Italy, South Korea, Thailand, and the United Arab Emirates have begun mixing vaccines as policy.
But those persons who are fully inoculated via mixed vaccines are facing many challenges with global travel, as many countries are not recognizing the mixed vaccines policy.
In particular, a significant number of Canadians have been vaccinated with mixed doses and are finding it difficult to travel to various countries which do not recognise the mixed vaccine method.
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had said he’s working with other countries to make sure rules for fully vaccinated Canadian travellers are consistent.
“We’re going to continue to work with the international community to make sure that people who are fully vaccinated in ways that Canadians recognizes as safe and effective are also recognized around the world,” the Prime Minister had stated.
Already, the Government of Barbados recently updated its travel protocols to allow persons with mixed vaccines to be categorised as fully vaccinated, and therefore, are granted entry into the country.
