Trinidad and Tobago is to receive next month its initial 100,000-120,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine via the COVAX Facility.

The principal role of the COVAX facility is to maximize the chances of people in participating countries getting access to COVID-19 vaccines as quickly, fairly and safely as possible.

Health Minister, Terrence Deyalsingh, who made the announcement on Monday (February 1), explained that this initial allocation will provide treatment for at least 50,000 people, as half of the vaccines will be reserved to ensure that each recipient receives the required two doses.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which is mainly produced in the United Kingdom has proven to be an effective treatment for the pandemic and is much easier to be stored than its other COVID-19 rival medications. The medication can be stored in the standard vaccine refrigerator, which maintains a temperature of two to eight degrees Celsius.

In a statement, the Health Ministry in the twin-island republic reported, “while it is noted that the vaccine will be distributed after it receives final World Health Organization Emergency Use Authorization. This announcement is a major step in securing doses of the vaccine for the Trinidad and Tobago population, especially in the face of international COVID-19 vaccine supply challenges.”

The Ministry of Health has taken a three-pronged approach to secure COVID-19 vaccines via the COVAX Facility, bilateral discussions with vaccine suppliers, and the Caribbean Community COVID-19 Vaccine Initiative. According the Health Ministry, it is far advanced in its preparation to receive and distribute the vaccine locally.

“Necessary consumables for vaccination have already been stockpiled in significant quantities including one million alcohol swabs and 1.5 million syringes,” the statement noted.

Adequate storage facility

In addition, the Ministry of Health has in-country capacity to store substantial quantities of doses of COVID-19 vaccines. There is capacity to store over 300,000 at two to eight degrees, another 200,000 at -20 degrees and a further 200,000 at -70 degrees Celsius.

The Health Minister statement went further to say that “while the ministry has already made significant steps in preparation for the national vaccine roll-out, it recognizes that a public/private sector partnership is required to administer vaccines to the national population in the shortest time. This will give Trinidad and Tobago the best chance of mass protection from the evolving COVID-19 variants.”

The statement disclosed that the national COVID-19 vaccine deployment will be implemented using two parallel pathways. The phase will be managed directly by the Public Health Sector and while the second phase will be administered by the Private Sector with oversight by the Ministry of Health.

Already, 23 public health facilities have been identified as future vaccination sites, while plans have been put in place for the creation of four mass vaccination sites across the territory.