“
We have more doses than requests
”.
In Guyana, the health authorities deplore the weak support of the population for vaccination against Covid-19, while the incidence of the Brazilian variant is increasing sharply.
“
The appointment slots are not full.
Vaccination must be increased
, ”added the Guyana regional health agency (ARS) on Tuesday, April 20.
To discover
Covid-19: instructions for use of self-tests
Read also: Brazilian variant: are all links with Brazil really interrupted?
The Ministry of Health noted "
a significant gap
" in vaccination coverage "
compared to the population of the metropolitan territory
", evoking "
a question of membership
". This is the reason why the ministry has "
very broadly adapted the vaccine targets to create a ripple effect
".
Vaccination was extended last week to people over 30, 7,268 Guyanese had received two doses of Pfizer vaccine (the only one administered in Guyana) on Monday, according to the latest official count.
Half of the inhabitants are under 25 years old, and since 2020 the territory has recorded one of the lowest per capita death rates due to the coronavirus in France (98 deaths per 300,000 inhabitants).
The vaccination coverage, which barely exceeds 5%, is considered “
too limited
” by the local authorities while a “
first case of the South African variant
” has just been spotted, according to the ARS, which also evokes an intensification of the disease. circulation of the Brazilian variant P1.
Read also: Covid-19: Brazil in the throes of a "humanitarian disaster" according to Médecins Sans Frontières
The latter represents "
more than 84% of positive samples
," prefect Thierry Queffelec indicated last week.
The population also seems more voluntary in the municipalities of eastern Guyana, at the gates of Brazil.
There, "
The request for vaccination is there,
" says Dr. Nicolas Vignier, coordinator of the device.
The expansion, in the East, of vaccination from the age of 18 at the end of March, had resulted in "
a
sudden
influx
", according to Dr. Vignier, who affirms that "
the device has been adapted and is fluid
".
Vouchers of 5 euros for those who are vaccinated
In Cayenne, where the incidence rate has crossed 298 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, the only vaccination center is now open on Sundays. A "
new center
" should be inaugurated soon, the ARS also told AFP. But in the second largest city, in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, vaccine requests are "
down 10%
", regretted Tuesday the ARS, via its daily newsletter.
This decline has led to an original initiative: a hypermarket in the city offers "
vouchers of 5 euros
" to those who are going to be vaccinated. “
We are doing this because very few people get vaccinated. Including among my employees
”, explained the manager, Jan Du, to the bulletin of the ARS. “
The marauding and visits to the neighborhoods
” and to the surrounding municipalities in Saint-Laurent “are
starting to pay off
”, estimates Didier Guidoni, the director of the western Guyanese hospital center (Chog), according to the same source . The Ministry of Health has indicated that it will send more doses in the days and weeks to come to territories particularly affected by variants, such as Guyana.
