Covax has approved its first tranche of 100,800 doses of the Covid19 vaccine for T&T and they are expected at the end of March.
At the virtual media conference on Saturday, Health Minister Terrance Deyalsingh revealed that “Under the Covax facility in phase one we would get proportional allocation of 20 per cent of our population in tranches. The first tranche has been confirmed… and the exact number is 100,800 doses.”
Payment for the vaccine will be shared by T&T and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), which has a grant out of the European Union to assist countries that fall under its remit.
T&T will be receiving from CARPHA US$160,838 for the purchase of vaccines. This means that T&T’s Government will be paying only US$343,162 for the first tranche of doses.
The entire cost for the 100,800 doses is US$504,000.
Deyalsingh said “At the ministry we have developed a very detailed grid of all health care workers and frontline workers.”
He said that phase one of the distribution will see 50,000 doses being given to high-risk or high-exposure people such as health workers of which there are about 5,000 frontline workers, other health care workers and people 60 years and older at public hospitals with non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Phase two will include other essential workers such as police, immigration, customs, coast guard, army, teachers, principals and sanitation workers.
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