HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — Guam saw 101 new Covid-19 cases in the past seven days and confirmed the presence of more worrisome coronavirus variants, prompting hundreds more to get vaccinated on Thursday at the Micronesia Mall.
Were it not for the additional variants confirmed on Guam, Ashlee Aguon, a mother of five, said she may have waited longer to get her first vaccine dose.
“I just gave birth and reading the news about the variants, I said I’m getting the vaccine now before it’s too late,” the 28-year-old said, as she patiently waited in line to get her first dose on Thursday.
About 76% of the 101 new infections over the past week have not received any Covid-19 vaccination, based on government data.
Nearly 41% of the cases involved those 18 to 29 years old. Most of them are in the military. The recent increase in Covid-19 cases prompted the return of the mask mandate on military bases and installations on Wednesday.
Department of Public Health and Social Services Director Art San Agustin said while there’s been an uptick in new cases and the risk score climbing again, he noted that the hospitalization rate has remained low.
Hours later, the Joint Information Center report showed four Covid-19 hospitalizations, including one in the intensive care unit. This was an increase from three the prior day, with no ICU admission.
Guam’s current Covid-19 Area Risk Score went up to 4.6, more than exceeding the 2.5 that the government has established. This comes days after Guam lifted social distancing, social gathering and business occupancy restrictions.
Here’s a closer look at the 101 new cases in the past seven days, based on data from San Agustin:
• 55 cases or 54% were in the Department of Defense community.
• 46 cases or 46% were in the civilian community.
• 25 reported as having received either one or two doses of any Covid-19 vaccine
• 22 are fully vaccinated and 16 have reported symptoms
• 10 cases reported recent travel: nine traveled from the states and one traveled from Taiwan
San Agustin also provided a breakdown of the ages of the 101 cases, but five cases are pending additional information:
11 years old and younger: 8 cases
12 to 17 years old: 4 cases
18 to 29 years old: 41 cases
30 to 39 years old: 19 cases
40 to 49 years old: 4 cases
50 to 59 years old: 14 cases
60 years old and older: 6 cases
Getting fully vaccinated does not stop transmission of the virus but it helps minimize Covid-19 symptoms or prevent hospitalization. Most hospitalization and deaths on Guam since Jan. 1 involved unvaccinated individuals, officials said.
Gabriel Aguon, 21, recalled catching a stomach virus while he was away so he thinks his immune system may not be as strong as he wanted it to be so on Thursday, he lined up to get his first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
“I get sick fast so I thought I should now get vaccinated against Covid especially with the variants around,” he said. He just returned from military-related training in Kentucky.
The director of Public Health said he’s “encouraged” by the volume of people who showed up at the Thursday mall clinic to get vaccinated.
“It’s a line that we welcome,” San Agustin said. Vaccination at Micronesia Mall continues through Saturday, while DPHSS has other areas where people can also get vaccinated.
As of 4:30 p.m. or an hour and a half before the clinic closed, more than 300 got vaccinated at the Micronesia Mall on Thursday. It’s the largest number so far for the mall vaccination outreach in recent weeks.
San Agustin said the sudden increase in the mall vaccination was a combination of variables.
“Some are looking to travel and they want protection. Some said it’s a family decision and they want their family to be protected. Some did it for employment. Some said they’re concerned about what they’re seeing in the news,” he said.
Low vaccination among youth
Guam reached its 80% adult herd immunity goal on July 29 for those at least 18 years old.
However, as of Wednesday, full vaccination among those 12 to 17 years old remained low, at about 44% or 7,120.
Overall, 103,766 vaccine-eligible people on Guam have been fully vaccinated.
Xavier Guiao, 13, said he’s excited to go back to in-person classes after a year of online learning, but he wanted to get vaccinated first against Covid-19 before he goes back to school.
His mother, Genedine, said she has better peace of mind, knowing that her son is fully vaccinated before going back to school next week.
Paul Eustaquio, 34, said he just got into a new job and it’s highly encouraged that all employees get vaccinated, so he was among the 300-plus who lined up on Thursday to get his first dose.
Mandatory vaccination
DPHSS’s San Agustin said the Federated States of Micronesia’s recent declaration mandating Covid-19 vaccination for FSM residents may have also been a factor in new vaccination for FSM citizens who are on Guam.
Esep Aliwis, 34, got his second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on Thursday.
Besides protecting himself and others around him, he said he would also like to be able to visit Chuuk when flights become available so he wanted to get fully vaccinated now.
Plorensia Sailas, 44, and her two children ages 15 and 17, also got their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, hoping it would help prevent them from getting sick from the virus.
“I was scared of getting the vaccine because there were so many rumors about it making people sick or different. But people I know who got vaccinated, they’re fine. I want me and my kids to be protected so we’re here,” the mother said while waiting for their turn to get vaccinated.
People wait in a long line to get vaccinated against Covid-19 Thursday during a vaccination clinic at the Micronesia Mall in Dededo.
