India’s donation of 80,000 COVISHIELD vaccines arrived this morning at the Cheddi Jagan International Airport, Timehri.
The donation will enable the vaccination of 40,000 persons with the double-dose required.
The shot is the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine manufactured in India.
An abridged version of a press release from the Indian High Commission follows:
India gifted 80,000 doses of the Made in India Covid-19 vaccine – COVISHIELD, to the Government and People of Guyana today to meet the immediate requirements of vaccinating healthcare workers, frontline workers and those with co-morbidities. The COVISHIELD vaccine is manufactured in India by the Serum Institute of India, Pune, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer in collaboration with Oxford-AstraZeneca. By delivering the COVISHIELD vaccine within days of its rollout, India has once again demonstrated its willingness and ability to act as a First Responder to crises in the World, including in Guyana. Recently, India gifted 175,000 doses of Made in India Covid-19 vaccine – COVISHIELD for the benefit of several CARICOM countries, Antigua and Barbuda (40,000 doses), St. Kitts and Nevis (20,000 doses), St. Lucia (25,000 doses), St. Vincent and Grenadines (40,000 doses) and Suriname (50,000 doses) which is part of an overall 570,000 vaccine donation to the CARICOM region.
The Prime Minister of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, Hon. Brig. (Retd.) Mark Phillips along with Hon. Dr. Frank Anthony, Minister of Health, Hon. Hugh Todd, Minister of Foreign Affairs & International Cooperation and H.E. Dr. K.J. Srinivasa, High Commissioner of India to Guyana received the consignment of doses of vaccine, in a special ceremony held at Cheddi Jagan International Airport.Hon. Brig. (Retd.) Mark Phillips, Prime Minister of the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, spoke on the occasion. He thanked Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Foreign Minister H.E. Dr. S Jaishankar for the generous donation of Covid-19 vaccines to Guyana which strengthened their hands in the fight against the COVID pandemic.
In his speech on the occasion, High Commissioner highlighted that the gifting of vaccines to Guyana honoured Prime Minister Modi’s commitment to use India’s vaccine production and delivery capacity for helping all of humanity in fighting the crisis. He emphasized the fact that Guyana received the vaccine in the first few days of India’s assistance to friendly countries, which highlighted the special place Guyana occupies in India’s Foreign Policy. It also bolstered India’s credentials as the immediate responder for Guyana in times of emergency situations. He reiterated that the arrival of Covid-19 vaccines in Guyana marked another milestone in our bilateral relations. High Commissioner was happy to note that with India’s support, Guyana would be able to intensify the inoculation drive at such an early stage in the global fight against the pandemic. He hoped that the vaccine would help Guyana in saving lives, ameliorating suffering of Guyanese brothers and sisters and bringing the Guyanese economy back to normal. He said that Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, in the middle of the pandemic, in September last year, had pledged that as the largest vaccine-producing country in the world, India’s vaccine production and delivery capacity would be used to help all humanity in fighting this crisis.