Why is the country with the highest vaccination rate taking new measures?

It may have vaccinated more than 60% of the adult population with both doses, but the government has decided to impose new restrictive measures, similar to those implemented in late 2020.

The reason for the Seychelles, which record a significant increase in new cases of coronavirus, despite having the highest percentage of fully vaccinated population worldwide.

It is characteristic that for the next two weeks, all schools in the island country will be closed, while no sports activities will take place. It also restricts citizen gatherings and restricts the opening hours of restaurants.

"Despite all our efforts, the situation in the country is critical, with many daily incidents," Health Minister Peggy Vidot told a news conference.

The Seychelles, which is located in the Indian Ocean and has a population of 98.000, is highly dependent on tourism and foreign exchange, as is Greece, as it is a popular travel destination.

For this reason, the local government immediately started vaccinations, with the result that today 62,2% of the population has been vaccinated, the highest percentage in the world (followed by Israel with 55,9%)

59% of the doses given were for the Sinopharm vaccine from China, while the remaining 31% was for a variant of AstraZeneca, Covishield, which is licensed in India.

So far, the exact reason for the eruption of the new Covid incidents has not been determined, although many believe that the main cause is due to the "relaxation" of the locals, who no longer observe the preventive measure of physical distance.

On May 3, as a result, the number of active cases again exceeded the limit of 1.000 people, when on April 28 it was only 612.

Source: Bloomberg