Seychelles, which has vaccinated a large proportion of its population against coronavirus in any other country in the world, has closed schools and canceled sports activities for two weeks due to rising numbers, Bloomberg reports.
The measures, which include bans on mixing members of different households and closing bars early, take effect at a time when more than 60% of the adult population is fully vaccinated in the country with two doses of COVID-19 vaccine. The restrictions are similar to those last imposed in late 2020.
“Despite all the extraordinary efforts we are making, the situation with COVID-19 in our country is currently critical with many cases on a daily basis registered last week,” Health Minister Peggy Vidot told a news conference on Tuesday.
The Indian Ocean archipelago, which has a population of about 98,000, is dependent on tourism for much of its foreign exchange earnings and took swift action to begin vaccinations in January using a donation of Chinese vaccines from the United Arab Emirates. Subsequently, other vaccines were delivered to the country.
Until April, 12.59% of the doses were Sinopharm vaccines, and the rest – Covishield, a version of the AstraZeneca vaccine produced under license in India. So far, 62.2% of the population has been fully vaccinated, according to data from the Bloomberg. In comparison, Israel has fully vaccinated 55.9% of the population, which ranks the country second in the world.
Global consequences
The number of active cases in the country rose to 1,068 on May 3 from 612 on April 28, according to the Ministry of Health.
Of those cases, 84% are Seychelles residents and the rest are foreigners, Daniel Lucy, a professor of medicine at the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine, said in a blog post. Just under two-thirds of those infected were either not vaccinated or with only one dose, and the rest had two doses, he added.
Although data on those infected in April are not yet available, option B.1.351, first identified in South Africa late last year, was discovered in the Seychelles in February, Lucy said. A study has shown that the AstraZeneca vaccine appears to be less effective against this option, and South Africa has stopped plans to use it.
A comparison between Sinopharm, Covishield and infected unvaccinated people can be made by tracking the genome and data on the severity of the infection, Lucy commented. “Given the widespread international use of these two vaccines, there are global implications of what is happening now in the Seychelles,” he added.
Officials did not reveal at the press conference the details of what could be the reason for the growth of those infected, except that people are taking less precautions against the virus than before and that the increase in cases may be due to celebrations after Easter.
Other countries that have vaccinated a large part of their population have seen a decline in COVID cases. In the UK, where 52% of people have a first dose, cases have dropped by 96% from a recent peak in January. In Israel, where 60% of the population has at least one dose, new cases are down 99%.
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