Jamaica to receive first COVID vaccine doses by month-end
Gavin Riley / Our Today
administrator
Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton has announced that Jamaica will be receiving up to 249,600 doses of the AstraZeneca coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine two months earlier than anticipated.
Tufton, speaking in the House of Representatives on Tuesday (February 2), said that he was informed by the COVAX Facility that Jamaica would get its first shipment of vaccines by mid to late February.
The minister further noted that 125,000 Jamaicans, or 24 per cent of the population, could be inoculated by late February into early March with priority being given to frontline workers, the elderly and other vulnerable groups.
What’s more, if additional supplies under the COVAX programme are received, some 450,000 Jamaicans could be vaccinated by the end of 2021.
“Madam Speaker, the availability of this vaccine is, of course, subject to the World Health Organisation (WHO) Emergency Use Listing and the indicative amount is is based on current communication from the manufacturers, Serum Institute of India and SK Bioscience,” Tufton disclosed.
“I must hasten to caution that it is likely that the allocation may need to be adjusted, as the present global circumstances are difficult to anticipate and the variables are constantly changing,” he added.
Jamaica, one of several Caribbean countries under the COVAX Facility, was initially due to receive its first vaccine shipment in April. The batch of vaccines was intended for 16 per cent of the population by year-end 2021.
See related article: More Jamaicans to receive COVID-19 vaccine by mid-2021
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