700,000 doses in limbo

At least 700,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses destined for Jamaica are likely to be dumped if Washington does not permit their export, potentially blunting the philanthropy of donors who have been moved to offer the life-saving shots to the island’s snail’s pace vaccination campaign.

Chairman of the National Health Fund (NHF), Howard Mitchell, said a large portion of the vaccines are set to expire in August, but despite pleas and intense lobbying from prominent expatriates, the Biden White House is yet to yield to requests to approve the export.

“We have more than one offer and commitment for donations from individuals and entities within the United States of America. There are people who are willing to give Jamaica their surplus vaccines, but they cannot because they would need permission from the federal government,” said Mitchell.

The vaccines, all manufactured in the United States, include Pfizer, Moderna, and the single-shot Johnson and Johnson.

Vaccine manufacturers were obligated by the then Trump administration to fill massive domestic orders first as coronavirus infections spread like wildfire across America in the last half of 2020 – a de facto ban that has persisted under successor President Joseph Biden despite officials repeatedly saying there is no formal prohibition.

About 258,000 doses of vaccines have been administered in Jamaica thus far, with the nine per cent inoculation rate among the lowest in the English-speaking Caribbean. Fewer than four per cent of immunised persons are fully vaccinated. Some 173,000 Jamaicans have received their first dose and 84,000 have received their second dose.

The inoculation drive was scaled back last week because of a shortage of doses, which caused the Holness administration to turn back persons under 50 years old who were due for second shots after a whirlwind blitz of more than 80,000 vaccinations in five days in early April. Only the vulnerable, persons 50 and over, are currently eligible.

Mitchell said several groups have joined forces to petition the US government to approve the release of the vaccines, but the donors are still awaiting the granting of export permits. The vaccines are still essentially owned by the federal government under the terms of agreements reached with drugmakers.

“The (Jamaican) Government has been very aggressive. The Government has reached out to the black caucus; they have reached out to the vice president through various intermediaries, Congress has spoken for Jamaica,” Mitchell, a former president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), said of the advocacy of the diaspora.

“We need the vaccines. You have hundreds of thousands who will die because they don’t get the vaccines, and there may be a situation where vaccines will have to be thrown away because of a commercial contractual arrangement,” he lamented.

As at Tuesday, Jamaica recorded 1,075 COVID deaths and 50,124 infections.

Canada and Mexico are the only countries that have so far secured vaccines from the US. In March, the Biden administration announced its intention to send roughly four million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca to both countries under a loan agreement. Mexico was set to receive 2.5 million doses and Canada 1.5 million.

Mexico has donated 65,000 doses of AstraZeneca to Jamaica, which arrived at the Norman Manley International Airport on Tuesday morning.

Initially, Mexico’s gift was 35,000, but news surfaced on Tuesday that the Andrés Manuel López Obrador government would almost double the supply.

This shipment will fuel a vaccination blitz from this Friday to Sunday, and possibly Monday, to inoculate the 25,000 to 30,000 people that are due their second shot.

Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton said another shipment of vaccines is expected to arrive within the next two weeks, but he did not state the quantity.

“That should take us into July, and then in August,we will be receiving Johnson and Johnson, and that should be consistent each month,” he said.

Tufton is optimistic that sourcing vaccines will improve going forward.

Stressing that Mexico is working earnestly along with other countries such as Jamaica to fight the scourge, executive director of AMEXCID, Dr Laura Elena Carrillo Cubillas, said the country is looking forward to more partnerships.

After having success in developing their own ventilators, Mexico has embarked on producing vaccines that are expected to be ready by year end.

“Once we get our own vaccine, then it’s gonna be much easier for us to produce it and share it with other countries,” Carrillo Cubillas said when asked whether Jamaica may again be in its gift.

Several Caribbean countries have also received donations from Mexico as the North American country, which currently holds the pro tempore presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States.

Mexico has donated 400,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines to Central America. El Salvador was given 100,800 doses, and Guatemala and Honduras received 150,000 each. Mexico hopes to assist other Caribbean states such as Trinidad and Tobago.