7.2 percent - that's how many of Belize's children aged 5 to 11 have received the a double dose of the COVID vaccine.
It's a disappointingly low figure for a Ministry of Health and Wellness which was hoping to have school aged children well covered by vaccines by the time the new school year re-opens in August and September.
But only 5,274 children aged 5 to 11 have gotten a double shot - and 26,720 or 45.8 percent of those aged 12 to 17 have gotten their shots.
Three weeks ago when we spoke to the Minister of Health we asked about the slow uptake of the vaccine for children aged 5 to 11, but at the time, he was looking at the syringe half full rather than half empty:
Cherisse Halsall
"Reports are right now sir that the 5-11-year-old category is not doing well."
Kevin Bernard, Minister of Health
"It's not as what we would want as I mentioned but it's going at a pace that we believe in. When you look at the trend from the 12-17, it's the same trend the 5-11 is taking and so if the adults who are reluctant to take the vaccine, obviously it will trickle down to the children."
""If I'm not mistaken, I think we are still not where we want but we are getting there, I don't have the right figure, I normally get this every week and normally review that on Fridays, so I'm not sure where we are right now but I know that the uptick has been good so far in terms of the schools, parents are participating but we also feel that we have between and the opening of classes when school fully opens whether it is August or September, we still feel and we're optimistic that because we are now inoculating our younger population 5-11 years old we will be able to achieve our 70% target which is also the international target set out by the WHO."
Currently, there are more than 209,950 vaccines on hand in Belize. As of 18th July 2022, 227,658 persons or 52.9 percent had received at least one dose of the vaccine and 217,803 or 50.6 percent have been fully vaccinated.
