More vaccines arrive early Tuesday

Health authorities are due early Tuesday to welcome the second batch of COVID-19 vaccines obtained under the global vaccine purchase facility COVAX, according to Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) data.

The shipment of 33,600 doses represents the second of three equal shipments bought through COVAX to treat one-fifth of the population. In all, 100,800 doses of the two-dose Oxford Astrazenca jab bought through COVAX were set to arrive in batches between mid-February and the end of June.

This latest shipment will boost the total number of jabs received for the national vaccination programme to about 160,000 doses – enough to inoculate at least 80,000 people, roughly one in three Barbadians. This includes the original shipment of around 90,000 vaccines to Barbados, a gift from the Indian government.

The new doses are certain to ramp up Government’s campaign as the vaccination rate has slowed amid appeals to citizens to get vaccinated to enable the island to achieve herd immunity.

To date, 75,491 vaccinations have been administered. This includes 32,717 people who have been fully vaccinated with the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine.

Barbados received its first tranche of 33,600 under the facility through which the vaccines are being sourced for some 190 member countries and territories last month.

On Monday, authorities reported four new cases of the coronavirus – three males and one female – from 662 tests conducted by the Best-Dos Santos Public health Laboratory.

Five people recovered and were discharged leaving 104 people in isolation.

The death toll from the coronavirus stands at 45 from 3,946 confirmed cases (1,906 females and 2,040 males) and 3,861 recoveries from COVID-19 illness since March last year.

The public health laboratory has carried out 159,450 tests dating back to February 2020.
(BT)