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A COVID outbreak in the world’s most vaccinated country has mostly spread among the people who haven’t had a jab, a government minister has said.
The Seychelles has been suffering from a surge in cases, despite 70% of its population having received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine.
But the country’s minister for foreign affairs and tourism Sylvestre Radegonde has said the virus is mostly spreading among those who have not had a vaccine.
He told the Seychelles News Agency that around 80% of people in the Seychelles who were recently infected have not been vaccinated.
The minister also said the situation is manageable and that the health system is not under pressure because people are not seriously ill with the disease.
Out of approximately 40 people who have recently been hospitalised in the county, only two are in critical conditions in intensive care, Radegonde said.
Other patients, who are mostly Seychellois, are stable with mild symptoms because they’ve been vaccinated, he added.
"This shows that the vaccination has had its effect," Radegonde said.
It comes after the archipelago saw its seven-day case rate per million people skyrocket to 1,480 on Monday, 3 May – the highest in the world at the time.
By Sunday, the rolling average halved to 726.34, placing the Seychelles fourth in the world for highest rate – behind Uruguay, the Maldives and Bahrain.
Radegonde said the increase in tests and contact tracing has prompted the figures to fluctuate but also accounted for the recent surge in cases.
However, he said the situation is still concerning, with the figures also suggesting that people are taking less care to stay safe due to the successful vaccination programme.
"Seychellois because they are vaccinated now are relaxing and think that all is OK," he said.
"We are letting our guard down, we are not as careful as before."
According to Oxford University’s Our World In Data website, Seychelles currently has the highest vaccine coverage in the whole world, with 129.88 per 100,000 people receiving a dose.
So the outbreak in Seychelles initially caused alarm over how well the vaccines were working.
According to Reuters, the World Health Organization has said it has "very low confidence" in vaccine data provided by Sinopharm – one of the two vaccines Seychelles has been administering.
But the fact that most of those who have caught COVID in Seychelles have not been vaccinated suggests that low vaccine efficacy is unlikely to have contributed to the latest surge.
However, the data does show that the risk of transmission remains high even in countries with high vaccination rates.
People in one part of India are covering themselves in cow dung and urine as they believe it protects them from COVID-19. Yet doctors proclaim there is no scientific evidence.
This is why I was kind of hoping they advanced the second dose instead of opening it up to younger people. Hopefully people can get their second dose with what’s left over.Ontario halts AZ for first doses. So will those of us who have had first doses be given the second or do we get to play mix and match? https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-...ses-of-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-1.5423379
The sudden increase in blood clot risk claim is at best dubious from their own data. Given the amount being used and the rates, the number of cases of VITT appeared to go up from one per week to two last week, which given statistical variance is meaningless.Just Ontario? So the AZ vaccine is ok everywhere else?
Ontario will no longer give AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine as 1st dose due to blood clot risk
Apparently over a million doses of AZ are on the way for second doses only.Ontario halts AZ for first doses. So will those of us who have had first doses be given the second or do we get to play mix and match? https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-...ses-of-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-1.5423379
There has been so much mixed messaging today. Docs say one thing, province says one thing, feds say one thing. They really should talk amongst themselves.Apparently over a million doses of AZ are on the way for second doses only.
I too am all for cultural sensitivity, but we got rid of many dubious traditions.It is these sort of cultural beliefs that cause pandemics. Wet Markets in China with exotic animals that people believe have various health attributes or cow feces in India that can spread disease, it is all the same.
I am all for being culturally sensitive but something needs to be done to promote a different way of life otherwise nothing will change. Some traditions are best left in the past in favor of medical science.
Smearing yourself with feces won't cure Covid but it may give you the plague, ebola, etc etc.
I too am all for cultural sensitivity, but we got rid of many dubious traditions.
Some cultures practised human sacrifice (including eradicating pandemics) as was tradition. Nowadays, human sacrifice is illegal in all jurisdictions. No, sacrificing humans to appease some deities won't get rid of COVID-19.
It is these sort of cultural beliefs that cause pandemics. Wet Markets in China with exotic animals that people believe have various health attributes or cow feces in India that can spread disease, it is all the same.
I am all for being culturally sensitive but something needs to be done to promote a different way of life otherwise nothing will change. Some traditions are best left in the past in favor of medical science.
Smearing yourself with feces won't cure Covid but it may give you the plague, ebola, etc etc.