Distribution of Sinopharm vaccines begins

Minister of Health, Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony says his Ministry has begun the distribution of the first purchased shipment of the Sinopharm vaccine in the regions.

On Wednesday, Guyana received some 88,000 of the 100,000 doses of the vaccine purchased from the Peoples Republic of China. The remaining 12,000 doses will arrive on Saturday.

During Thursday’s COVID-19 update, Minister Anthony said the Sinopharm vaccine does not require cold storage and therefore distribution would not be a challenge, especially in the interior regions.

“We have started the distribution of those that we have received, so we’re sending them out to the region and one of the advantages with this particular vaccine is, it does not require ultra-cold storage, or the really cold storage, which is minus 20 (degrees Celsius). These are vaccines that can be stored from two to eight, so we’re very happy with that because it allows us to move them to very remote places as well,” Minister Anthony said.

This is the second consignment of Sinopharm vaccines to be used in Guyana. The first consignment of 20,000 doses was donated by the Chinese Government in early March.  

Meanwhile, the Health Minister said the country is still some distance away from achieving herd immunity, as only 22.7 per cent of the population has been fully immunised. As such, the Minister is again encouraging eligible adults to take their COVID-19 jabs.  

“The vaccines that we have would certainly help us to get there, but we need people to come forward and take the vaccines, and I’m very hopeful that more and more people will understand the importance of getting vaccinated because without vaccination, you are putting yourself and your family at risk.”

As of Wednesday evening, 233,756 persons have taken their first dose, while a total of 110,710 persons have been fully immunised against the deadly disease.