With over 80,000 persons awaiting their 2^nd dose shot of the Sputnik V Coronavirus vaccine, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony announced today that the government intends to continue issuing the first dose shots even as it works to clear the backlog of persons awaiting their second dose shots.

Some persons have been waiting for more than three months to access their second dose shots.

According to the Health Minister, the manufacturer of the vaccine has advised that the intervals between the first and second dose could be as long as 90 to 180 days. 

“So that interval, a lot of people who have taken their first dose would not have exhausted that longer interval. We have been working with the 90 days and we are trying to get the vaccine so that people can get their second dose,” the Health Minister said

The Minister is confident that the backlog of 80,000 will be cleared shortly.

“So, I will encourage people to continue to get their first dose, because we are going to address the set of persons who got first their first dose and need a second dose. We will address that shortly so that other persons can get their second dose”, he said.

He explained that even though a fully vaccinated person can contract Covid-19, it may not be as severe as opposed to an unvaccinated person.

And with active Covid-19 cases now surpassing 3000, the Minister believes persons should continue to take extra precautions.

“So it is not just about vaccination which is very very important, but it is all the additional measures that you have to use. So, we really urge people to take these measures seriously, and to protect themselves,” the Minister said.

Last Friday, News Source broke the story about the high number of persons still waiting on their second dose shots.

The Minister today confirmed the number of persons awaiting those shots to be the same number as News Source first reported.

The Sputnik vaccine was procured by the Guyana Government at more than its suggested price from a middle man in the United Arab Emirates, who has failed to maintain a steady delivery of the vaccine.

While the country received more than 200,000 first dose shots of Sputnik, less than 100,000, second doses were received.

Unlike other Coronavirus vaccines, the Sputnik vaccine is made up of two completely different vaccine doses

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