Region uncertain when Covax vaccines will arrive

UNCERTAINTY over the arrival of AstraZeneca covid19 vaccines in Trinidad and Tobago via the Covax facility continues to loom. But this uncertainty is not unique to this country.

Local health authorities had said this country was expecting the first batch (33,000) of these vaccines by the end of February/early March. This has since turned into "the end of March," and "by April."

The only Caricom country to receive vaccines from Covax so far is Jamaica. On March 15, it received 14,400 doses.

Since then, no other Caricom country has been given a fixed date for the arrival of supplies. Most leaders and health ministers have only been able to say "soon" or "hopefully soon."

Guyana, for instance, was initially to receive 100,800 doses. But the country's health minister Dr Frank Anthony has said the World Health Organization (WHO) wrote to him saying it had since revised this figure to 33,000, then to 24,000.

Village Voice News, among other Guyanese media, quoted him as saying on Monday, “That’s worrying for us because we are expecting and we were planning to utilise those doses to get to certain segments of our population," adding that he was given "no definite time," for the vaccine's arrival.

He said something similar had happened in Suriname, which was initially set to get 79,200 vaccines.

Barbados is due to receive 100,800 vaccines by the end of March, with just a week left until April.

During the Conversations with the Prime Minister forum last Thursday, the Prime Minister said, "It appears as though, in the Covax (facility), it may not even be that (33,000). It will be less. And not being able to confirm a shipment now is making us believe that Covax has not had access,"

In its first round of vaccine allocation on March 2, Covax said Antigua and Barbuda would receive 40,800 doses; 100,800 would go to the Bahamas, Belize and TT; 28,800 to Dominica; 45,600 to Grenada; 756,000 to Haiti; 124,800 to Jamaica; 21,600 to St Kitts and Nevis; 74,400 to St Lucia; and St Vincent and the Grenadines would get 45,600.

Montserrat was not included in the listing. Newsday sent an e-mail to the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) asking for that country's figures but did not receive a response up to press time.

At a press conference on Tuesday, PAHO director Dr Carissa Etienne said the other Caribbean countries "will start to see the first Covax shipments arrive on their shores" from next week.

She said, "Our goal must be to save as many lives as possible by prioritising early doses for those who are at highest risk of infection."