VICTORIA, Seychelles (AP) – The island nation of Seychelles in the Indian Ocean had one of the world’s first COVID-19 vaccinations, and this month it aims to break new ground again by achieving so-called “herd immunity.”
In an interview with The Associated Press, President Wavel Ramkalawan said this goal should be reached in mid-March, “when we vaccinate 70,000 of our people. That’s 70%, because our population is 100,000. “
The country relies heavily on tourism, and when the COVID-19 vaccinations began in Seychelles in January, some tourism industry workers were among the first to receive them, along with health workers and the president himself.
By the end of February, approximately 44% of the vaccinees had received a second injection.
The country has benefited from so-called vaccine diplomacy. According to the Seychelles News Agency, the vaccination campaign began in January with 50,000 doses of the Chinese-made Sinopharm vaccine donated by the United Arab Emirates, a good trading partner. The Emirates airline, Etihad Airways, has a significant stake in Air Seychelles.
And India donated 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine made by the Serum Institute of India. The Seychelles government, which has a significant population of Indian descent, said it has purchased an additional 40,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to have enough to inoculate 70,000 people.
“We have many close friends who love us,” Vanessa Lesperance, an Indian Ocean medical officer, told the AP last month. “That made it easier for us to have a steady supply of vaccines.”
She added, “We look forward to returning to normal life.” But Dr. Sanjeev Pugazhendi of the Health Ministry said the “new normal” in Seychelles will still include wearing masks, washing hands, and social distancing at meetings, which “I think are here to stay.”
Such measures can be in effect for years, depending on the introduction of vaccines to the rest of the world, the duration of immunity of vaccines and other factors.
“There will always be a persistent risk of COVID … until and unless the rest of the world can catch up too,” Pugazhendi said.
So-called herd immunity is achieved when enough people are protected by infection or vaccination to make it difficult for a virus to spread further. The exact threshold for the coronavirus is unknown, although some experts suggest that at least 70% of the population must be protected to keep the virus in check. However, the emergence of new worrying 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 Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The first two positive Seychelles cases were confirmed on March 14, 2020 in a Seychelles couple who had returned from a trip to Italy.
The country, like most other African countries, quickly imposed a nationwide lockdown, with most shops, businesses and schools closed for three weeks. The airport was closed and ships were not allowed to carry tourists.
Restrictions still apply to public gatherings, restaurants and bars. Tourists flying to Seychelles must have recent negative PCR tests for the coronavirus and a seven-day quarantine period in a designated hotel with a negative PCR test at the end of it.
The seven-day moving average of daily new cases has dropped in the past two weeks, from 49 new cases per 100,000 people on Feb. 15 to 32 new cases per 100,000 people on March 1, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.
COVID-19 vaccines in Seychelles are voluntary and free. After those on the front lines were vaccinated, the elderly were given priority. The shots are given in hospitals, clinics, pharmacies and some businesses. Now all residents can be vaccinated except those under 18.
The publicity surrounding the urge to vaccinate has helped dispel false information about the shots, according to medical workers.
“As soon as we started distributing the vaccines to leaders, religious leaders and health professionals, it started to decline,” said Pugazhendi, the health ministry doctor.
Speaking with the AP last month, Pugazhendi and Lesperance said neither had a vacation since the pandemic started, with the tropical environment of the Seychelles almost always in sight.
“We are more than anyone else looking forward to the end of COVID,” said Lesperance.
Cara Anna in Nairobi contributed.
Follow up AP reporting on the virus outbreak:
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic
https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus vaccine
https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak