Latest update February 4th, 2025 9:06 AM
COVID-19 booster shots to be available from next week- Health Minister
Kaieteur News – Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony announced yesterday that COVID-19 booster shots will be made available from next week.
Minister Anthony, who made the announcement during his daily COVID-19 update, said that persons 50 years and over, and those persons with comorbidities (underlying medical conditions) are eligible for the vaccine.
He stated that the green-light was given after finalizing data and recommendations with stringent oversight authorities. According to him, the data shows that six months after persons receive their second dose, the immunity of the vaccine starts to wane.
Covid-19 booster shot vaccine concept
“We have been contemplating how do we move forward with this, and we have concluded based on data and recommendations from more stringent oversight authorities that a booster shot is necessary, because what that data have shown is that after six months after the second dose, if the regime is a two-dose regimen, six months after that second dose that the immunity starts to wane and, therefore, if the immunity start to wane the chances are that persons can get infected. There can be breakthrough infections, and that the protection the vaccine will normally offer for persons, preventing them from getting a severe form of the infection that can start to wane,” Dr. Anthony explained.
So out of an abundance of caution, the Minister announced that from next week his ministry will make booster shots available to persons 50 years and above, and additionally to persons between the ages of 18 to 50 who have underlying conditions.
“So 50 years and above you will be eligible for a booster dose once that six months passed since your second dose of a two-dose regime vaccine. So that’s one category of people; so the second category of persons if you are below age 50, but up to 18 and you have some form of comorbidities, then you can get a booster shot,” he added.
It should be noted that these eligible persons can either have a shot of the same vaccine they were initially administered or another one.
Meanwhile, during the update he provided data on the country’s current COVID-19 vaccination rate.
According to the Health Minister, based on age category, persons 60 years and above, 79.3 percent of persons took their first dose and 66.6 percent took their second dose. For the age cohort 40 to 59 years, 77.1 percent of persons took their first dose and 57.6percent took their second dose. While in the 18 to 39 age category 73 percent of persons took their first dose and 44.6 took second dose. Lastly, in the 12 to 17 age group 39.2 of persons took first dose and 27.1 percent took second dose.
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