GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Health Minister, Dr. Frank Anthony, Monday reiterated a call for pregnant and breastfeeding women to get vaccinated against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, saying that the benefits of the vaccines for outweighs the side effects.
Image taken from Gavi: The Vaccine Alliance.“Whether it’s the first three months, second three months or the last three months, it is safe throughout the pregnancy. So, at what point you choose to get the vaccine, it doesn’t matter you can get the vaccine, so as to protect yourself,” Dr. Anthony said during Monday’s COVID-19 update.
“I am very hopeful that the 14,000 or so women that normally get pregnant during a year that most of them will get vaccinated,” he told reporters, adding that all the scientific data available shows that the vaccines are safe to be taken at any stage of pregnancy.
The authorities have warned that pregnant women are more at risk at becoming seriously ill with COVID-19 and that taking any of the vaccines available – AstraZeneca, Sinopharm, Sputnik V or the Pfizer BioNtech – reduces the chances of getting infected, hospitalized and dying.
“The side effects are minimal. What we know is some people may get a little bit of pain at the site, some people may have a headache…but these things don’t last,” he said.
“All the data now that we have pertaining to these vaccines is that it is safe during pregnancy. So whether it is during the first three months, second three months or third three months, what point you choose to take the vaccine doesn’t matter. ”
Dr. Anthony said, in addition to these benefits, “when the baby is born, and you’re breastfeeding the baby the antibodies that your body would have produced would also pass through the breast milk so that the baby would have some form of immunity as well”.
Last Thursday, the Ministry of Health rolled a targeted vaccination program in an effort to reduce the number of positive COVID-19 infections in pregnant and breastfeeding women.
Previously, the ministry was offering the AstraZenca, Sinopharm and Sputnik V vaccines, but following a survey, the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine has been added to the list of those offered to women.
Dr. Anthony told the COVID-19 update since then, there has been an increase in the interest shown to get vaccinated against the disease.
“A lot of women have been showing interest in getting vaccinated. They’ve been asking a lot of questions and as we roll it out to different regions. I expect that we will have higher uptake.
“We have also been working with the private hospitals and the doctors of those hospitals have been promoting for pregnant women and breastfeeding women to get vaccinated,” he told reporters.
Guyana has recorded 33, 696 positive cases and 840 deaths linked to the pandemic since the first case was registered in March last year.
