The Tribune

THE Pan American Health Organisation has clarified that contrary to an earlier report, The Bahamas was not specified as a country that is scheduled to receive its shipment of the COVAX COVID-19 vaccines by the end of this week.

However, PAHO has said all countries in the region should get their first deployment of the shots by early April.

At a virtual press conference on Tuesday, PAHO/ World Health Organisation Director Dr Carissa Etienne said in response to questions from regional journalists: “I want to assure you that PAHO is doing all that it can to accelerate access to vaccines in our region.

“Following PAHO’s negotiations with the COVAX partners, we have ensured that 21 countries in the Americas will receive their first deployment of vaccines by the end of this week. And in early April, all countries in our region will be able to receive their first deployment of vaccine. This is good news.”

In a clarification sent on Thursday, PAHO noted that The Bahamas was not specified as a recipient of the vaccines scheduled for the end of the week.

PAHO/WHO said it understands the urgent need for vaccines as part of the response to the COVID- 19 pandemic and will continue to provide safe, effective vaccines through the COVAX facility.

The Minnis administration has made a downpayment for about 100,000 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine through COVAX. The government has previously said the first batch of these vaccines should arrive by the end of this month, with the remainder expected in May. The country’s vaccination programme began last week, however these vaccines were donated by the government of India.