The campaign was launched in 7 primary schools with the Pfizer pediatric vaccine yesterday. At a press briefing at Petit Verger Government School in St Pierre, Dr Kailesh Jagutpal estimated that the two-dose campaign will be completed in two months.
The pediatric anti-covid 19 campaigns will involve about 90,000 students. Parents will have to accompany their children and submit a signed consent form. The campaign, made possible by a grant from the UK, is widely supported by all Ministers, as well as the PM, Pravind Jugnauth, who at the 482nd birthday of Maharana Pratab in Triolet, asked parents to have their children inoculated. At the launch at Petit Verger Govt. School, Education Minister, Leela Devi Dookun Luchoomun was also present. The Health Minister expressed his hope that “all parents will make the right decision for their children”.
This campaign will be carried out by 7 Mobile Teams. There will also be provisions to cover the population of children, who will not be attending school during these two months. The vaccination exercise is being carried out in seven Primary schools and will be replicated in several Primary schools across the country. The children will be administered their second dose after one month.
Minister Jagutpal, for his part, spoke of the precautionary measures set up by his Ministry and the Ministry of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology since the reopening of schools last year. To this end, he pointed out that both Ministries have put in place seven mobile teams to ensure the vaccination of children, including a team for domiciliary vaccination. In two months, all children will be inoculated with two doses of vaccines, he said.
As for the British High Commissioner, she rejoiced that the British Government has donated vaccines to Mauritius while highlighting those children have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic as they could not attend schools and their mental health have been impacted.
The new Acting WHO Representative stated that it is important to vaccinate children of this age group as it reduces their risk of being infected with COVID-19, which can help keep them from being sick. In a bid to encourage parents to vaccinate their kids, he emphasised that the vaccines are effective and have mild side effects on children.
Vaccination program
The Ministry of Health and Wellness inform the public that vaccination sessions for the administration of Paediatric Pfizer Vaccine (1st dose) will be carried out ONLY for children aged 5 to 11 years who do not attend any educational institution as from Monday 23 May 2022 from 09 00 hours to 14 30 hours on weekdays and from 09 00 hours to noon on Saturdays at the Paul Octave Wiehe Auditorium, Reduit in alphabetical order as follows:
- Monday and Thursday: A – F
- Tuesday and Friday: G – N
- Wednesday and Saturday: O – Z
NOTE: as from Monday 23 May 2022, vaccination for adolescents aged 12 to 17 years and adults will not be carried out at the Paul Octave Wiehe Auditorium, Reduit.
All children aged 5 – 11 years, who do not attend any educational institution, attending the above vaccination centre for their 1st dose of Paediatric Pfizer vaccine should bring along their birth certificate and should be accompanied by their parents / legal guardian who would be required to sign a consent form.
To date rates
Regarding a possible easing of the health restrictions, the Minister said that “even if we have not had any death due to Covid-19 during the last two weeks, we must remain vigilant. We also need to monitor the situation during the winter period.”
Even with a low frequency, the country is still threatened by the Omicron variant and its sub-variants BA.1, BA.2, BA.4 and BA.5. On Monday 23 May, the Ministry of Health reported 16 positive cases and 5 admissions, 2 of which were to regional hospitals and 3 to the New ENT Hospital. The progress of the vaccination counts 1,009,191 people for the first dose, 976,127 for the second and 634,900 for Booster Dose 1.
