Through funding from the European Union, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), in partnership with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), has secured down payments to purchase over 1 million doses of the expected COVID-19 vaccines for Caribbean Member States.
However, Guyana was not listed in the PAHO press release announcing the move as one of the 12 states to benefit.
CARPHA Executive Director Dr Joy St John underscored her appreciation for the swift commitment of the two agencies, which resulted in the transfer of funds as a down payment to PAHO to be routed through Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which is the administrator of the COVAX Facility.
Speaking at a media briefing yesterday, she noted that 12 CARPHA Member States have signed up with Gavi. They are: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos.
The release said that CARPHA is assisting 11 of these Member States, with all or a portion of the required down payment. The down payment is approximately 15% of the value of vaccines that countries intend to procure in the future, ranging between 15% and 33% of their populations.
“We have been able to support Antigua, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos Islands, with 100% of the down payment required by the COVAX Facility. We have been able to support Suriname with 18% of the down payment required by the COVAX Facility. These will cover just about 20% of the population in total,” Dr St John said.
Dr Carissa F. Etienne, Director of PAHO and Regional Director for the Americas of the World Health Organization, issued a message stating that the COVAX Facility provides the best opportunity for countries to fair and equitable access to a pool of candidate vaccines.
Earlier this week, Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony said government is continuing engagements to procure approved COVID-19 vaccines, while announcing that priority for access would be given to health care workers, persons with pre-existing conditions and other persons vulnerable to COVID-19, such as the elderly.
Speaking during a COVID-19 update, Anthony noted that Guyana has been in discussion with several countries and organisations to procure a vaccine once one is approved. However, only 20% of Guyana’s population will be able to get access to an approved COVID-19 vaccine in the initial stages, so they would need to figure out which categories of persons will need to be vaccinated.
On September 4th, Anthony has said that Guyana was in talks with Gavi.
“On the 31st of August I have signed a letter of intent that the Government of Guyana would like to be part of this COVAX facility. Right now COVAX, they have 15 vaccines that they are looking at,” Anthony informed while adding that whichever of the vaccines successfully completes the third phase of trial, the alliance would then provide resources so that they can go to the next stage of manufacturing the vaccine.
Under the agreement, the release yesterday said, PAHO will receive the funds from CARPHA for transfer to Gavi for the required down payments. When the vaccines are available, Member States will purchase them through the PAHO Revolving Fund.
Dr Jarbas Barbosa, Assistant Director at PAHO, said in the release that global equitable access to a vaccine through the COVAX facility, will allow the countries, in the first phase, to receive a number of doses that is equivalent to 20% of their population. This volume will enable them to protect health care workers, frontline workers, and those most-at-risk such as people with 65 years and more and adults with underlying conditions. The access to COVID-19 vaccine will be facilitated as a result of PAHO’s Revolving Fund, a 40-year mechanism which is working closely with the COVAX facility and will be responsible for purchasing and deploying vaccines when they are available.
“There have been a number of important developments in the search for a COVID-19 vaccine. Nearly 200 vaccine candidates are being studied and the global health community is working diligently in the hopes that one or more of these will prove to be effective. We do not yet know which vaccine or vaccines will be found safe and effective. But we do know that if we don’t prepare now, we will miss the opportunity to benefit from it quickly. There are currently 10 vaccines in Phase 3 of clinical trials, or the final stages of clinical trials, all of them in negotiations with the COVAX Facility” Dr Barbosa explained.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the 20 CARICOM countries there have been over 40,000 reported cases and 864 deaths (as of 14 October). The initial vaccination coverage facilitated by the grant will prioritise healthcare and frontline workers, the release noted.
