BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - WITH the next tranche of vaccines from India expected in the region today (Feb. 26), according to Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris, the Federation will officially receive 20, 000 of the 100,000 expected in the region.
The amount of doses was confirmed by Premier Mark Brantley at his monthly press conference yesterday, where he disclosed that St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Antigua and Barbuda are all expected to benefit.
“I am advised that the vaccines that we ought to receive tomorrow will be 20,000 vaccines...tomorrow or shortly thereafter,” announced Brantley.
He added: “India is assisting all of those countries, and also assisted Barbados and Dominica. And Barbados, out of its supply, was able to assist Trinidad; and Dominica, out of its supply, was able to send some to Antigua and to St. Kitts and Nevis.”
This is the second tranche of vaccines from India, where the Serum Institute is producing doses of the AstraZeneca Vaccine for distribution.
The Government in New Delhi has promised to facilitate the region with 500,000 doses of the AstraZeneca Vaccine, which has an efficacy rate of 63-93 percent when applied in two doses.
India is not the only avenue that is being pursued by the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis to source vaccines.
Brantley explained that the current administration is looking to others for support.
He did not provide the names of the other sources, but health officials previously announced that they are looking to Africa as one of the avenues.
“As we know, through negotiations, Taiwan has offered some US$600,000 for the purchase of vaccines. And if you did the math, the AstraZeneca is costing approximately US$5 per dose...you will get a sense loosely of how many vaccines we would be able to purchase,” Brantley said.
Additionally, the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is expected to receive a $300,000 support from the Government of Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela to support the purchase of more vaccines.
“So, the truth is that with US$600,000 from Taiwan, US$200,000 from Venezuela [and] with the commitment that we would have already made so far where the COVAX facility is concerned, we should have enough vaccines to vaccinate the entire population,” noted Brantley.
He is hopeful that the Government could report 100 percent penetration of the population when it comes to vaccination but, if that is not possible, he expects that 70 percent for the herd immunity threshold.
