Seychelles, an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean.
The health ministry said more than a third of people who tested positive for Covid-19 in the week to May 8 had been fully vaccinated.
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The Seychelles is causing concern for world health experts after a rise of Covid-19 cases among fully vaccinated individuals.
The World Health Organization said Tuesday that it would review coronavirus data from the Seychelles, an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, after the health ministry said more than a third of people who tested positive for Covid-19 in the week to May 8 had been fully vaccinated.
The Seychelles is viewed as having conducted a very successful vaccination rollout so far; it can boast having the highest share of people vaccinated against Covid-19 anywhere in the world, above Israel and the U.K.
The majority of vaccinated people have received China’s Sinopharm vaccine (approved for emergency use by the WHO last Friday) as well as the AstraZeneca shot (known as Covishield locally, a version produced in India). In total, the Seychelles with a population of over 97,000 has recorded just under 8,200 cases and 28 deaths during the pandemic.
On Monday, the Seychelles’ health ministry reported a steep rise in the number of cases. From 120 new cases reported on April 30, a week later over 300 cases per day were recorded on May 7 and May 8, respectively.
Of all the positive cases, the health ministry said 63% had either not been vaccinated or had only received one dose of SinoPharm or Covishield, but 37% of the new infections were in people who had received both doses.
The ministry noted that, of the patients requiring hospital treatment, 80% had not been vaccinated and tended to be people with co-morbidities. It added that “almost all” of the critical and severe cases requiring intensive care treatment had not been vaccinated either. To date, none of the patients who have died with Covid-19 have been fully vaccinated, it said.
To date, among those who a have received two doses, 57% have received Sinopharm and 43% Covishield, the Seychelles’ health ministry said. It’s unclear which vaccine had been given to individuals who had been fully immunized but then tested positive for Covid.
While there was a flattening of new cases on May 7 and May 8 (with 317 new cases reported and then 314 cases, respectively), the health ministry said “the rate of transmission remains high and is of concern.”
The situation has certainly alarmed experts, particularly as 60% of the Seychelles’ total population has been fully vaccinated. What’s more, 86% of the Seychelles’ targeted population for vaccination — 70,000 people — have been fully vaccinated to date, ministry data shows.
