PAHO confirms more covid19 vaccines to arrive in May

THE PAN AMERICAN Health Organization (PAHO) says the balance of Covax covid19 vaccines bound for TT will arrive by the end of May.

The initial 33.600 doses, out of about 100,800 total allocated doses, arrived at Piarco on Tuesday night, and were received by Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh, Chief Medical Officer Roshan Parasram, PAHO representatives and other health officials.

The vaccines then made their way to storage units in Chaguaramas and Couva, ahead of their distribution to 21 designated vaccination centres, three of which are in Tobago.

PAHO issued a statement after the arrival of the vaccines, describing it an "historic step towards ensuring the equitable distribution of covid19 vaccines worldwide, in the largest procurement and supply operation in history."

The vaccines were manufactured in South Korea under the Covax facility – a global effort between the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, Unicef, PAHO and the World Health Organization (WHO).

PAHO, in its statement, said, "This delivery is part of the first phase of deliveries for TT, and more vaccines are expected to arrive successively during the coming months. According to the first round of Covax allocations, TT is expected to continue receiving doses through May until it reaches 100,800, the amount specified by Covax.

"PAHO’s Revolving Fund, which is responsible for the procurement of covid19 vaccines for the countries of the Americas under the CovaxMechanism, sent 33,600 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, manufactured by SK Bioscience of South Korea."

PHAO representative to TT Dr Erica Wheeler said, "Seeing this arrival is very reassuring and it means that more people will be able to be protected from covid19. We will continue to work with the country to support vaccination along with the entire package of known public health and social measures that we know can help stop the spread of covid19, protect health services, and save lives."

At the time of the vaccines' arrival on Tuesday, TT had recorded a total of 8,004 cases and 142 deaths attributed to covid19.

Deyalsingh said, "On behalf of the people of TT, I wish to express how happy we are that these WHO approved vaccines have landed on our soil.

"WHO approval assures us that the vaccines are safe and effective, and we will continue to prioritise safety over expediency. All systems are in place to continue the national covid19 vaccination programme with those at highest risk and highest exposure to the virus. This is an important step for us as we move from the management to the control of covid19.”

Unicef representative for the Eastern Caribbean area Dr Aloys Kamuragiye said: "The arrival of these vaccines provides a critical tool in the fight against covid19, which has been battering essential services that secure the education and protection of our children. Unicef will continue to support the Ministry of Health in its communication campaign, which seeks to drive adult vaccination as an important step towards controlling the pandemic, so that we can begin to reimagine a better, safer and healthier future for everyone, especially children, young people and their families."

Covax has sought to provide vaccines for at least one-fifth of the population of each participating country in 2021.

In the first round of vaccine allocation, participating countries would have received doses to vaccinate between 2.2 and 2.6 per cent of their population.

Small island developing states are an exception, receiving vaccines to cover between 16 and 20 per cent of their populations because of the high logistical cost of delivering small quantities of vaccines.