Already allocated for children in Guyana, this country’s allotment of COVID-19 Pfizer vaccines donated under the United States 5.5 million shots to CARICOM will be arriving this week, sources have disclosed.
“Guyana will be getting its Pfizer donation this week,” a source told Stabroek News.
It is unclear how many doses have been allocated to Guyana.
The United States Government has donated 5.5 million Pfizer vaccines to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), of which 1.5 million doses have been assigned to Haiti, with the other 4 million earmarked for distribution among 14 CARICOM countries.
A press release from the CARICOM Secretariat this month had said that the initiative was the culmination of efforts from Chair of CARICOM and Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago Dr Keith Rowley, who earlier this year wrote US President Joe Biden, requesting a supply of vaccines for the Community.
The release said that the donation from the White House also includes three million ancillary kits containing needles, syringes, diluent and other supplies.
CARPHA Executive Director, Dr Joy St. John has assured that, “as the public health agency leading the regional COVID-19 response, we have worked with member states to ensure that they are ready to accept the vaccines, especially as it relates to regulatory approval, coordination, planning and delivery, logistics, shipment receipt and procedures.”
St. John added, “CARPHA was pleased to collaborate with the Pan American Health Organization [PAHO], as they facilitated specialized training on vaccine systems, while we facilitated the special ultra-cold chain training, which Pfizer delivered to the countries receiving the vaccine donation.”
The Executive Director confirmed that three million ancillary kits have already been delivered with the support of Caribbean Airlines and the CARICOM Regional Security System, while another tranche of one million ancillary kits will be delivered directly by Pfizer along with vaccine shipments.
