Suriname yesterday received 24,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX Facility.
A release from PAHO/WHO said that the arrival marked a historic step toward ensuring the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, in the largest vaccine procurement and supply operation in history. This delivery is part of the first phase of deliveries for Suriname, and more vaccines are expected to arrive successively during 2021. According to the first round of COVAX allocations, Suriname is expected to continue receiving doses through May until it reaches 79,200, the amount specified by COVAX. Subsequent doses are expected to be received during the second half of the year with total doses deployed to cover up to 20% of the population.
PAHO’s Revolving Fund, which is responsible for acquiring and delivering COVID-19 vaccines on behalf of the countries of the Americas that are part of the COVAX Facility, shipped 24,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine, manufactured by SK Bioscience of South Korea. The vaccines arrived yesterday at the Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport, in Paramaribo.