Health Minister: Vaccines & testing kits available but people don’t see COVID as a threat anymore

With a new variant of the deadly coronavirus, JN.1, leading to an increase in cases around the world, Guyana’s Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony says the country is still prepared to deal with COVID-19.

According to him, vaccines and testing kits are available but most people don’t see COVID-19 as a threat any longer.

“We have seen over the last year, not many people coming for vaccination and while vaccines are available as boosters, people are not coming to take them,” the Health Minister said at his ministry’s end-of-year press conference on Friday.

Though cases have increased globally, Dr. Anthony said Guyana has not seen a huge increase in cases, hospitalisations or deaths. He explained, however, that people are not getting tested even if they have the signs and symptoms associated with COVID-19.

Only if people get “very sick” do they seek treatment, he added.

Because of decrease in testing and admissions, the National Infectious Diseases Hospital at Liliendaal, Georgetown, which was commonly called the COVID-19 hospital, has now been repurposed to treat persons dealing with other diseases.