Guyana getting more free vaccines from COVAX

Guyana was initially allocated 100,800 vaccines through the COVAX facility but the country has already received more than 300,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses since the facility has increased the number of vaccines it will be allocating to Guyana.

The COVAX facility is a global mechanism put in place to ensure that countries have equitable access to life-saving vaccines. As part of this facility, countries would either receive vaccines for free if they are part of an Advance Market Commitment (AMC) grouping on a self-paying basis. Guyana has been receiving vaccines for free.

During his COVID-19 update on Tuesday, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony said that COVAX has provided 305,420 doses of vaccines to Guyana; the vaccines include AstraZeneca and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines. Both sets of these vaccines are given in two doses and as such, the donations allow for some 152, 710 people to be vaccinated.

On Friday last, Guyana received 100,620 doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine through COVAX. These vaccines were donated by the United States government. And Dr. Anthony’s statements came after the News Room inquired about the number of vaccines Guyana has received from COVAX.

When he initially announced that Guyana would be receiving vaccines from COVAX several months ago, he stated that the country would get enough vaccines for only a small segment of the population.

“Initially, when COVAX first started, they were looking at vaccines to all countries participating in about 10 percent of their population, and at that time in the early stages, the priority was to give to older people and to frontline workers,” he explained on Tuesday, however.

Importantly, too, Dr. Anthony opined that COVAX may have revised the amount of vaccines it is providing to countries to ensure that countries can vaccinate at least 40 per cent of their population by year end. This is in keeping with calls for widespread vaccination coverage made by the World Health Organization (WHO).