[Updated] 200,000 Sinopharm vaccines to arrive on Monday

The country’s stock of vaccines will increase by 213,500 this week with more donations from Caricom countries and the first shipment of purchased vaccines from China.

On Friday, the Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard posted on Facebook that its Fixed Wing Squadron asset AG216 transported 8,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from Grenada and 5,500 from St Vincent and the Grenadines.

TT previously received AstraZeneca vaccines from both countries – 10,000 from Grenada on May 30 and 16,000 from St Vincent on May 20.

The Prime Minister said on Saturday the shipment from China is expected on Monday and will begin to be used by Wednesday.

Speaking to Sunday Newsday, Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Dr Amery Browne said TT and other Caricom countries were continually working together, and TT made it clear it was in a position to use vaccines they could not.

“This donation is a furtherance of diplomatic work within and outside of Caricom. The impending expiry, challenges with relatively high vaccine hesitancy, plus the number of vaccines that some of the smaller territories have accessed has resulted in a scenario in which there is the potential for vaccines to be wasted or discarded.

“This is an ongoing exercise. They have been checking and rechecking to ensure that, within Caricom, we make best use of the limited available pool of vaccines.”

On Saturday, in another post, China's Ambassador to TT Fang Qiu said 200,000 Sinopharm vaccines purchased by the government were “on the way” to the country.

“This is gonna be the first delivered batch of procured Chinese covid19 vaccines in the Caribbean. A big plus to the mass vaccination drive. China continues to stand together with TT against the pandemic.”

The shipment was expected to arrive in TT last Thursday but was delayed. Browne said it should arrive in TT “very early next week” but declined to comment on the matter any further.

The additional vaccines come after come chaos in the past week’s vaccine roll out when the ministry allowed people to visit facilities without an appointment. This led to long lines and large crowds at vaccine sites around the country, as well as many people being turned away because they were ineligible or vaccines were limited.

Browne added that TT was also in discussions with Cuban authorities to position itself to support and have access to future World Health Organization-approved Cuban vaccines.

The first tranche of a 800,000 shipment of Johnson and Johnson vaccines is expected in August.

This story was originally published with the title "200,000 Sinopharm vaccines on their way to Trinidad and Tobago" and has been adjusted to include additional details. See original post below.

The country’s stock of vaccines will increase by 213,500 this week with more donations from Caricom countries and the first shipment of purchased vaccines from China.

On Friday, the Trinidad and Tobago Air Guard posted on Facebook that it transported 8,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines from Grenada and 5,500 from St Vincent and the Grenadines. Both Grenada and St Vincent previously donated 10,000 and 16,000 AstraZeneca doses because people on those islands were hesitant to take that vaccine.

In another post,China's ambassador to TT Fang Qiu said 200,000 Sinopharm vaccines purchased by the government is “on the way” to the country.

“This is gonna be the first delivered batch procured covid19 vaccines among all kinds in the Caribbean. A big plus to the mass vaccination drive. China continues to stand together with TT against the pandemic.” That shipment was expected last Thursday.

Foreign and Caricom Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne told the Senate on Friday that the shipment from China was now expected "early next week."

The additional vaccines come after come chaos in the past week’s vaccine rollout with the ministry allowing people to visit facilities without an appointment. This led to long lines and large crowds at vaccine sites, as well as many people being turned away because they were ineligible or there were limited vaccines.