VICTORIA, Seychelles (AP) – The Seychelles island nation of the Indian Ocean had one of the first COVID-19 vaccine launches in the world, and this month aims to break new ground by achieving the so-called “immunity of the US”. ramat “.
In an interview with The Associated Press, President Wavel Ramkalawan said the goal should be reached by mid-March, “when we would have vaccinated 70,000 people. That represents 70% because our population is 100,000. “
The country is heavily dependent on tourism, and when COVID-19 vaccinations began in Seychelles in January, some tourism industry workers were the first to receive them, along with health and safety workers. same president.
By the end of February, about 44% of those vaccinated had received a second vaccine.
The country has benefited from so-called vaccine diplomacy. Its vaccination boost began in January with 50,000 doses of the China-made Sinopharm vaccine donated by the United Arab Emirates, a close trading partner, according to the Seychelles news agency. Emirati, Etihad Airways, has a substantial stake in Air Seychelles.
And India donated 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine developed by the Serum Institute of India. The Seychelles government, which has a large Indian population, said it bought an additional 40,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to have enough to inoculate 70,000 people.
“We have a lot of good friends who love us,” Vanessa Lesperance, a doctor from the Indian Ocean island nation, told the AP last month. “This made it easier for us to get a steady supply of vaccines.”
He added: “We are looking forward to returning to normal life.” But Dr Sanjeev Pugazhendi, of the government’s health ministry, said the “new normal” in Seychelles would still include wearing masks, washing hands and distancing oneself from meetings, which “I think are here to stay “.
These measures could be applied for years, depending on the implementation of vaccines in the rest of the world, the duration of vaccine immunity and other factors.
“There will always be a continuing risk of COVID … until the rest of the world can catch up too and unless,” Pugazhendi said.
The so-called immunity of the herd is reached when enough people are protected through infection or vaccination to hinder the spread of the virus. The exact threshold of the coronavirus is unknown, although some experts suggest that at least 70% of the population should protect themselves to control the virus. However, the emergence of worrying new versions of the coronavirus further complicates the picture.
Since the pandemic began, Seychelles has had 2,849 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 11 deaths, according to the African Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The first two positive cases of Seychelles were confirmed on March 14, 2020 in a Seychelles couple who had returned from a trip to Italy.
The country, like most other African nations, quickly imposed a national closure in which most shops, businesses and schools were closed for three weeks. The airport was closed and boats were prevented from carrying tourists.
Restrictions on public meetings, restaurants and bars continue. Tourists flying to Seychelles must have recent negative PCR tests for the coronavirus and have a seven-day quarantine period at a designated hotel with a negative PCR test at the end.
The average of seven days of new cases daily has fallen in the last two weeks, from 49 new cases per 100,000 people on February 15 to 32 new cases per 100,000 people on March 1, according to data from Johns University Hopkins.
COVID-19 vaccines in Seychelles are voluntary and free. After vaccinating the frontline, priority was given to the elderly. Shots are given in hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and some companies. Now all residents can be inoculated, except those under 18 years of age.
According to medical workers, publicity around the vaccination union has helped dispel misinformation about the traits.
“By the time we started administering the vaccines to leaders, religious leaders and health workers, this started to decrease,” said Pugazhendi, the health ministry doctor.
When they spoke to the AP last month, Pugazhendi and Lesperance said neither had a vacation since the pandemic began, with the Seychelles ’tropical environment almost always in sight.
“We look forward to the end of COVID more than anyone,” Lesperance said.
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Cara Anna in Nairobi contributed.
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