Hundreds of 5 to 11 year olds get first dose of Pfizer COVID vaccine in Guyana on Saturday

Guyana: The Guyanese Ministry of Health launched a vaccination campaign for children aged 5 to 11 years on Saturday. The authorities used Pfizer vaccines received from the Spanish government on 6 June 2022.

Parents brought their children to the National Cultural Centre tarmac for a walk-in, drive-through vaccination clinic. Janae Persaud, eight years old, was one of those who received the vaccine.

"I felt good about getting the vaccine since it will make my family proud and protect me; I'm glad I got the immunization," stated Persaud.

Emma John, another kid who received the vaccine, added, "My mother informed me that I had to get it, and I want to make sure that my friends are safe."

Several parents expressed their feelings as well and also encouraged others to get their children vaccinated and protected against the deadly virus.

"My two kids, Emma and Ella, are here, and they are both vaccinated, everything went pretty smoothly, and the whole procedure is nicely coordinated," a parent named Aubrey John said.

"I want to play a role in keeping the community safe because I know I'm fully vaccinated, and if I have the option to get my children vaccinated, I know they'll recover faster if they get Covid," she continued.

Another parent, Deryck Persaud, who took his two children to get vaccinated, said it is an international necessity and advised parents to follow the Ministry of Health's guidelines.

"We'd like to encourage everyone living in this lovely country of ours to make sure their children are vaccinated," Persaud said.

"It's free, you don't have to pay for it, and you need to come out and do what is best."

Devika Rambarran brought her three children, ages 6, 9, and 11, to get their shots. She explained that this is critical because two of them are currently doing face-to-face sessions, and she wants to keep them safe.

"We've had pockets of pandemic in schools," she says, "and I believe that once we can protect kids with a vaccine, we'll be able to relax a little more."

Yashoda Dukhbhanjan, a mother and teacher, expressed her joy at the prospect of her child being vaccinated.

"After all this time, I think it's actually a wonderful thing that the kids are now vaccinated." "As a teacher, we see students becoming sick in school, not many, but a few, but they are all excited to return to school, and then with the learning loss and everything, it's nice that they are actually giving them now," she added.

Another dad, Shawn Ally, is asking all parents to have their children vaccinated.

"I would encourage every parent to come out and get their children vaccinated because it's better for the environment, and the kids are back to school, and they're still playing with each other, and you can't stop them from being near together," Ally said.

Dr Frank Anthony, Minister of Health, stated that the government has a backup plan in place to obtain another 60,000 doses based on the response to this shipment of vaccines.

"This was an event we had been planning for a long time; we had anticipated that we would be able to access these vaccines for a while now," Dr Anthony said.

"However, there were many challenges getting vaccines for this age group because there is a global shortage of these types of vaccines. We were very pleased when we approached the Spanish government, and they readily agreed to donate these pediatric doses to us."

Permission slips will be distributed to schools through a partnership with the Ministry of Education, and schools with a higher percentage of parents agreeing to have their children vaccinated would be inspected, he said.

More youngsters will be vaccinated as a result of this efficient use of time.

Dr Leslie Ramsammy, the campaign's health advisor, informed the media that no child would be left behind.

"The truth is, Covid isn't finished yet. Too many of us believe that Covid has arrived, done its job, and then vanished. In fact, the world is witnessing the emergence of newer variants, some of which have learned to evade the vaccine, and if we don't take advantage of the opportunity now to vaccinate our children, the elderly, and everyone aged five and up, we are laying the groundwork for new variants," Dr Ramsammy explained.