St Vincent & the Grenadines urgently needs second tranche of Pzifer vaccines, says PM Gonsalves

Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves noted that St Vincent and the Grenadines is in urgent need to acquire a second tranche of Pfizer vaccines from the United States, as the citizens are coming forward to take their first jabs of the vaccine.

The prime minister made the request during the handover ceremony of two field hospitals worth US$1.3 million, which are donated by the United States Joe Biden administration to the island.

Following his statement, he thanked and appreciated the United States for the first shipment of more than 35,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines while indirectly appealing that St Vincent and Grenadines is all set to receive its second tranche of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Prime Minister further highlighted that in the past few weeks, the island witnessed a hike in the COVID-19 infections, deaths and vaccine hesitancy, noting that this rise in the infections and deaths came amid the arrival of the delta and gamma variants.

With this, he outlined that so far, 81 percent of the police force is vaccinated against the contagious COVID-19, which also includes coastguard and fire officers. While the vaccination coverage for nurses (both in-hospital services & communities) stands between 75 to 81 per cent.

Following is the vaccination coverage highlighted by the Prime Minister:
Among immigration workers – 80 per cent
Among prison officers – 85 per cent
Among airport staff – 68 per cent
At the port – 61 per cent

Prime Minister has a firm belief that the vaccination rate of the island will rise soon as the citizens are coming forward to take their jabs at the COVID-19 vaccines, adding that the Pzifer vaccine is in high demand.

So far, more than 49,816 COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in St Vincent and the Grenadines, where around 26 percent of its total population is vaccinated atleast with one dose while around 18.8 percent of individuals are fully vaccinated.