Higher Vaccination Rate Than Israel, Yet Deaths Continue Despite Full Vaccination

Premature Easing of Entry Restrictions Seems to Have Introduced the Delta Variant

Seaside of the Republic of Seychelles
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] In the Republic of Seychelles, where the vaccination rate has exceeded 70%, six fully vaccinated individuals have died from COVID-19. It is presumed that they could not avoid the India-originated Delta variant despite having a higher vaccination rate than Israel.

Bloomberg News reported on the 1st (local time), citing officials from the Seychelles Ministry of Health. Among the six deceased, five had received two doses of Covishield, the AstraZeneca vaccine produced in India, and the remaining one had received two doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine.

Regarding the consecutive deaths of fully vaccinated individuals, Bloomberg News stated, "COVID-19 has been spreading rapidly in Seychelles since early May," and "It appears that the more contagious Delta variant has been introduced." In fact, local health authorities estimate that most new confirmed cases are infections with the Delta variant.

Seychelles is a small island nation located north of Madagascar Island in Africa. More than 60% of the vaccines used in Seychelles are the Sinopharm vaccine developed by China, with the remainder being the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The rate of people who have received at least one vaccine dose was 71.86% as of the 24th of last month, far surpassing the UK (64.63%), Israel (68.88%), and the United States (53.32%). The fact that most of the population of 98,000 is engaged in tourism has influenced this.

The Seychelles government has allowed foreign tourists to enter without quarantine since March 25, provided they submit a PCR negative certificate within 72 hours. Some have criticized this as a premature measure. The Washington Post (WP) said, "The vulnerability of Seychelles, which heavily depends on tourism, has been exposed."

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (ACDC) have recently begun evaluating Seychelles' vaccination campaign over the past three weeks and are working on countermeasures.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.