GEORGETOWN, Guyana– Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony is appealing to parents to ensure that their children are vaccinated against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic as health authorities said they would soon be administering the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine to children between the ages of five to 11.
They said that the second dose is being administered 28 days after the first and that an estimated 4,000 children of that age have already received the first dose of the vaccine.
“We need to do much more and encourage more parents to bring their children out to be vaccinated,” said Dr. Anthony.
The authorities here said that before a child can be vaccinated, a parent or guardian must fill out a consent form. They said the process allows the staff to ask the parent or guardian questions to determine whether the child has any allergies to vaccines or has comorbidities.
Earlier this year, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended extending the use of a smaller dose of the Pfizer – BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to children ages five to 11. The recommended dosage for the younger population is ten micrograms instead of 30 given to adults.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health said it had administered 442,872 first-dose COVID vaccines to adults countrywide. It also noted that 343,640-second doses and 68,984 booster shots were also distributed.
“If you have had your first and second doses more than a year ago, that’s too long. So, people need to come back and get their booster doses because, after six months, the anti-bodies in your system begin to drop, and therefore you need to be boosted,” Dr. Anthony added.
Guyana has recorded 1 256 deaths and 67 699 infections linked to the COVID-19 pandemic since the first case was detected in March 2020.
and then 
