SVG Gov’t trying to source Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children

By Demion McTair. Updated 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, June 2, 2021, Atlantic Standard Time (GMT-4).

Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Simone Beache said the Ministry of Health is trying to source doses of the BioNTech, Pfizer vaccine for children, as that vaccine can be administered to children above 12 years.

At a press conference on June 1, 2021, Beache and other health officials said children are at risk of developing severe reactions to the disease, health officials said.

There has been an increase in the number of cases among the young population in St. Vincent, that is, 27 percent of total cases are children (persons under the age of 18), Senior Registrar attached to the Milton Cato Memorial Hospital – Dr. Mishka Duncan-Adams said at the press conference.

Children as young as one month old have been infected with COVID-19, Dr. Duncan-Adams said.

The total number of active COVID-19 cases across St. Vincent and the Grenadines has risen to 199.

There have so far been 12 COVID-19 related deaths.

The two main COVID-19 vaccines available in St. Vincent and the Grenadines are the Oxford, AstraZeneca vaccine and the Russian Sputnik vaccine.

The AstraZeneca is not recommended for people under age 18.