Second shot will start roll-out from Saturday, April 17

Barbados has extended the date for the second dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine against COVID-19 by 10 weeks.

The decision to extend the date for the second dose came on the advice of the country’s Vaccination Medical Committee of the Ministry of Health and Wellness. The committee has advised that the efficacy or effectiveness of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is greater if it is administered 10 to 12 weeks after the first dose.

As a result of this, the time period for the second dose has now been extended to 10 weeks for those frontline workers and vulnerable persons who were given a four-week date for the second dose. The health ministry in Barbados is advising those slated for the second jab will be contacted and informed of the new dates and locations for them to receive their second dose.

Roll-out of second shot determined

The ministry has pointed to the importance of individuals to have their second dose to ensure the full effectiveness of the vaccine. The administration of the second shot will start to roll out from Saturday, April 17.

The COVAX Facility, under which developing countries are buying their vaccines, recently announced its final allocation of vaccines for Barbados and countries in the Eastern Caribbean that will see them receiving a proportion of 16 to 20 per cent of their population coverage by the end of this month.

According to PAHO, following the approval for the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for Emergency Use List (EUL) by the World Health Organization, 100,800 doses of the vaccine will be delivered to Barbados. Some 74,400 doses will go to St Lucia; 40,800 doses to Antigua and Barbuda; 21,600 doses to Saint Kitts and Nevis; 45,600 doses to Grenada; 28,800 doses to Dominica; and 45 600 doses to St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Vaccine allocation announcement

In a statement announcing the allocation, PAHO said that its Revolving Fund for Vaccines will procure and deliver the COVAX vaccines to the countries in the Eastern Caribbean and Barbados. “PAHO is working with its member countries to close the purchase orders and to expedite administrative, regulatory, and logistics procedures to scale up vaccinations in the region, the statement read.

According to PAHO, “The countries will start receiving their first vaccines through COVAX in March if all the conditions are met. Countries received the letters from COVAX informing about the volumes they will receive until May from the first producer that met the EUL authorization from WHO and finalized the commercial agreement with COVAX.”

The PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados and Eastern Caribbean countries, Dr Yitades Gebre, stated that, “the priority of the first phase of vaccination is to save lives…We will achieve this by vaccinating the most exposed groups — like the health professionals, and the most vulnerable groups to developing severe COVID-19 illness.”

COVAX is financially supporting access to vaccines for the four Eastern Caribbean countries of Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines, that probably would have to wait many months to get vaccines if the facility did not exist