… former Deputy CMO explains
The Ministry of Health has informed the public that taking the COVID-19 vaccine will not give persons immunity against the virus but will protect them from its adverse effects.
This message was relayed on Monday by former Deputy Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Karen Gordon-Boyle and forms a part of the Ministry’s awareness campaign as the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine in Guyana picks up.
“The vaccine will not prevent you from contracting COVID-19 but it will prevent you from dying from complications. Taking the vaccine is just the responsible thing to do to prevent our health system from becoming overwhelmed by the COVID-19 epidemic,” Dr. Boyle said.
She also explained to the Guyanese public that in receiving the vaccine, persons experience symptoms but these are not serious enough to adversely affect their health.
Dr. Boyle said: “Fellow Guyanese, it is better to become slightly sick from the side effects of the vaccine than to definitively die from the direct effect of the corona disease. So, I urge you to take the vaccine if and when the opportunity presents itself.”
It takes about two weeks for a person’s full immune response to kick in.
The first COVID-19 vaccine was administered in Guyana on February 11, 2021 at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) to Pharmacist, Brinnet Bernarai who works at the hospital.
It marked the first of a number of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, donated by Barbados, which will be administered over the next few days to health workers at the frontline of the COVID-19 fight.
It is estimated that about 22,000 health workers will initially receive vaccines.
Meanwhile, a national group has been established to monitor the possible side effects from the vaccine which could be reactogenic or adverse — the latter being more serious.
However, according to the Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, Guyana has not received any reports of adverse side effects as a result of taking the AstraZeneca vaccine.
