Within the next week another shipment of the Sputnik V COVID-19 second dose is expected to arrive in Guyana and Government continues to engage the supplier in Russia to ensure that there is a “steady” supply of the vaccine.
“As of now we are expecting based on what was told to us…in the next five to six days, we are expecting a shipment from the suppliers…..So within the next seven days, we expect to have a shipment of the component two of Sputnik vaccines,” Ali said.
He made this disclosure during a virtual press conference held yesterday morning. Ali is currently in New York where he attended the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
The Ali administration has been criticised for entering a deal with a middle-man United Arab Emirates company that has seen sporadic supply of the second doses of the Sputnik vaccine and thousands of persons having to scramble to get them whenever a small shipment arrives.
Ali said that from the inception the Government has been in continuous engagements to secure the various types of vaccines and this continues.
He said they have been directly engaging the suppliers of the Sputnik V vaccine, Russia.
“We have been engaging the suppliers, we have been engaging Russia to ensure that we have a steady supply.…Trust me every night we are on the phone directly dealing with this, talking to the Ambassador of Russia, talking to Russia directly, talking to every stakeholder who can assist in this and that is an important part of our agenda too,” he noted.
Presently, there are thousands of persons who are waiting to receive the second dose of the Sputnik V vaccine, despite being administered the first from as long as since April.
Persons who have received their first dose have indicated to this newspaper that they were unable to access their second doses from the tranches that arrived recently as they were told that only those who received their first dose in April are eligible.
The first and second doses of Sputnik V utilise different adenoviruses. While the first dose has been readily available, the second dose has been in short supply in many of the countries using the Russian vaccine.
During last week, Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony said that government will not suspend the use of the Sputnik V vaccine since the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has advised that the gap between shots can be up to 180 days with the vaccine still maintaining its efficacy.
Anthony had explained that while this may be the case, the Government has been using the 90-day gap between shots that the RDIF initially recommended. He added that no one has yet gone beyond the 180-day gap and the authorities are hoping to address the second-dose shortage soon.
Third dose
Ali further stated yesterday that should the need arise for a third dose of the vaccine, Government will have no difficult in making this investment even if it calls for adjustments to the financial programming.
“….The issue of the third dose, that is something we will have to examine. There is no clarity on it…There is no clarity on how effective the third dose is but if the third dose is necessary, especially dealing with the variations of the virus then we will have no hesitation in investing in the third dose too because the lives of our people matter,” Ali explained.
“So if the third dose is required by the end of the year, the Government is prepared to adjust its financial programming to make the investment in the third dose for the safety of the people,” he added.
Ali again urged that persons get vaccinated. “It minimizes the chances of hospitalization and further minimizes the chances of death and whatever is necessary to keep the population safe we are not going to spare that investment,” he advised.
According to Ali, more than 67% of the country’s population has since received the first dose of the Sputnik V vaccine. He said close to 39% have received the second dose.
During his address at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, Ali urged that the movement of people not be curtailed based on the COVID-19 vaccines they took.
“The access to vaccines saw the world polarised. I know, I speak on behalf of many leaders when I say that we must not now hurt our efforts at ending this polarisation of access to vaccines by implementing measures that divide us and curtail our movement based on the type of vaccines our people took. Indeed, our efforts must be focused on full vaccination and addressing vaccine hesitancy. Millions took the vaccines which were available at a time of much uncertainty, and they are the unsung heroes. They must not now be the subject of restrictions based on the vaccines they took”, Ali said.
His plea came in the wake of the non-acceptance by some countries of vaccines in use here.
Earlier this week, the United States announced that from November all visitors will have to be double- vaccinated and a decision will be made on which vaccines will be accepted.
Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine has been the major jab in use here but it is still to receive World Health Organisation approval for emergency use.
