Poor response to Covid booster doses in remote regions – Minister Anthony

With 36, 866 booster doses administered so far, Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, M.P., said there has been a “very poor” response from citizens in the hinterland regions to get their booster shot.

Breakdown of Booster doses by region

Minister Anthony said 664 booster doses have been administered in Region One, 1, 552 in Region Two, 5, 354 in Region Three, 18, 829 doses have been administered in Region Four, with 2, 191 in Region Five, 6, 295 in Region Six, 338 in Region Seven, 221 in Region Eight, 1,074 in Region Nine and 348 in Region 10.

“Of the interior Regions, Region Nine is doing fairly well, but this is also relatively low, because we really need people to come out and get their booster doses,” the minister said.

He added that the ministry has been conducting vaccination outreaches to ensure persons in these regions are inoculated against the disease.

“The interior presents a different challenge and that is why we can have several fixed sites. A lot of the population would still not have access and that’s why we have mobile teams that have been going into the villages and doing the vaccination,” he said.

Meanwhile, the minister is again appealing to pregnant women to get vaccinated, as they are at a higher risk of infection. He said misinformation about the vaccines has led to many pregnant women refusing to take the jab.

As of Thursday, 422, 165 or 83.2 percent of the adult population received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine while 310, 938 or 60.6 percent have taken both doses.

In terms of children between the 12 to 17 age cohort, 32, 435 or 44.5 percent took the first dose and 22, 799 or 31.3 percent are fully inoculated with the US-made Pfizer vaccine.