About 100,000 nursery, primary school children to be vaccinated; full face-to-face classes soon

About 100,000 children in nursery and primary schools could be vaccinated soon with the US-made Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines and as a result, they can make a full return to face-to-face classes shortly.

A lower dose of the Pfizer vaccine has been recommended for use in children aged five to 11 years old in the United States of America (USA). And, Guyana is seeking to roll out this vaccine to children in this age group, once the US starts its rollout.

On Friday, Education Minister Priya Manickchand confirmed that this vaccine would soon be administered to children in this age group. Already, children between 12 and 18 are receiving these Pfizer vaccines.

Responding to questions from the News Room, Manickchand said that there are some 84,000 primary school children and 27,000 nursery school children. Not all of those children will be eligible for the vaccines, however.

“We want our kids back in the classroom,” the minister stated, noting that the local authorities are pushing for a full return to face-to-face classes because there have been significant learning losses recorded through the pandemic.

When the Pfizer vaccine rollout commenced for the older children, the Education Ministry crafted a schedule wherein children would be able to receive the vaccines at their schools. On Friday, Manickchand noted that a similar schedule was being crafted for the impending rollout to the young children.