So far, so good: Vaccination campaign is on

The rollout of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine has gone according to plan with very few hiccups, Chief Medical Officer Dr Kenneth George said Friday, as frontline workers were among the first to receive the jab.

In an interview with Barbados TODAY,  Dr George said some of those who had been vaccinated had only shown fever and skin irritation, a common reaction to most vaccines.

But no one had suffered any major side effects, he said.

Said Dr George: “Mild symptoms have been reported in a few cases. There have been minor ones like irritation of the injection site, redness of the injection site, and a few people have developed a mild fever. These are consistent with any vaccine programme.

“There have been no acute allergic reactions to the vaccine so far.”

The Chief Medical Officer continued to defend the Government’s decision to distribute the vaccine, saying it was a safe option.

He told Barbados TODAY: “Vaccines that we have received have always been tested, albeit in this case it was done rushed because the countries around the world needed to have a programme that could respond to the level of coronavirus in the population. But the vaccines have very few side effects and most of them will be very, very mild.

“The major side effect that we are concerned about are acute allergic reactions or anaphylaxis and that has not been drawn to my attention so far.”

The two-dose Oxford AstraZeneca jab is to be administered in four phases. The initial doses target key personnel who are leading the vaccination campaign, teams conducting the exercise and the medical personnel at the Harrison’s Point coronavirus hospital.

Also among those expected to receive vaccinations in the first batch are supermarket workers, customs officers, gas station attendants, taxi operators, workers in the tourism industry, police officers and members of the Barbados Defence Force.

The second phase of vaccinations will target people over the age of 65, while Phase 3 will target people with non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

The fourth phase will include the “working population”.

“The intention is to vaccinate up to 70 or 80 per cent of the population and that will achieve herd immunity,” Dr George said Thursday on the eve of the rollout.

Several prominent Barbadians have already publicly taken the vaccine including Governor General Dame Sandra Mason, Chief Justice Sir Patterson Cheltenham, Acting Governor General Very Reverend Dr Jeffrey Gibson and National Hero the Right Excellent Sir Garfield Sobers.

Several thousand doses from Tuesday’s batch were also donated to CARICOM neighbours, including Guyana.

About a quarter of another batch of 100, 800 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccines is expected between mid-February and month-end through the global COVAX initiative of which low and middle-income countries like Barbados are members.

The final shipment from this allocation is expected no later than June, according to the COVAX coalition’s notice to Government. (randybennett@barbadostoday.bb)