Jamaica receives 14,400 jabs of AstraZeneca vaccines under COVAX Facility

Jamaica: The Government of Jamaica has received a consignment of 14,400 shots of Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines under the COVAX Facility.

Jamaica is the first nation in the Caribbean to obtain vaccines secured through COVAX.

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton and World Health Organization (WHO)/Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Representative Dr. Bernadette Theodore-Gandi were on hand to eye-witness the arrival of the consignment at the Norman Manley International Airport in Kingston on Monday (March 15). Dr. Tufton thanked the WHO/PAHO for helping with the procurement of the vaccines.

“COVAX, as you may know, is the globally coordinated mechanism to provide equitable access, risk pooling, and affordable options for all participating countries,” he noted.

The 14,400 doses add to the 50,000 doses donated by the Government of India, which arrived on March 8, to facilitate the rollout of the country’s COVID-19 vaccination programme on Wednesday (March 10).

Minister Tufton said that “with these additional doses, Jamaica will continue to vaccinate members of the priority groups, including healthcare workers, members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF), the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), senior parliamentarians and elders in institutions.”

He again reassured Jamaicans that these vaccines are safe.“The AstraZeneca completed phases one, two, and three clinical trials, and after all, documentation was submitted and reviewed by the WHO, it received emergency use authorization in February 15, 2021,” he noted.

The governmental information service of Jamaica has informed that as of March 14, 2021, the nation has 31,305 confirmed coronavirus cases, seven new coronavirus-related deaths, 114 recoveries of patients, and if we discuss about the total number of deaths in the country due to deadly coronavirus, its number is 492, which is comparatively high.

There are 15,325 total COVID-19 active COVID-19 cases reported in Jamaica. PM Andrew Holness informed every citizen to be careful and safeguard themselves from immunization.

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