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PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) – Haiti received its first coronavirus vaccine on Wednesday since the start of the pandemic, hosting 500,000 doses as the country battles a spike in cases and deaths.
The Pan American Health Organization said the United States donated the doses through the United Nations COVAX program for low-income countries.
Spokeswoman Nadia Peimbert-Rappaport told The Associated Press the shipment was a Moderna vaccine.
“The arrival of these vaccines is quite promising and now the challenge is to get them to the people who need them most,” said the director of the regional health agency, Dr Carissa Etienne, in a statement.
The doses will be administered free of charge, said Dr Marie Gréta Roy Clément, Haitian Minister of Public Health and Population.
“This first vaccine allocation ends a long waiting period, a long waiting period not only for the Haitian population but also for the people of the region who were very worried that Haiti was the only country in the country. Americas that had not yet introduced the COVID 19 vaccine, ”she said in a statement.
Haiti has reported more than 19,300 confirmed cases of coronavirus and more than 480 deaths as it battles a wave of COVID-19 cases that has forced hospitals to turn away patients. Experts believe these numbers are vastly underestimated because there are few tests in Haiti, which has more than 11 million people.
Some 756,000 doses of AstraZeneca injections were due to arrive in May through the COVAX program, but were delayed due to government concerns about possible clotting as a side effect and a lack of infrastructure to store vaccines properly. refrigerated.
The Pan American Health Organization said it will help the Haitian Ministry of Health address these issues and prioritize immunization of health workers.
It was not immediately clear when the inoculations would start and where.
Experts have already warned of potential issues that could complicate vaccination efforts, including an upsurge in gang violence that makes people afraid to leave their homes or go to certain areas because they fear. for their life.
Haiti is also reeling from the assassination of President Jovenel Moïse on July 7.
Moïse had declared a health emergency on May 24 and imposed a curfew and security measures, including making it compulsory to use face masks when entering businesses. But few Haitians keep up with the measures by shopping in bustling markets or riding on crowded colorful buses called tap taps.
Last month, the nonprofit St. Luke Foundation for Haiti said the country’s insecurity interferes with the importation of oxygen in liquid form, then its conversion to gas and delivery.
“It is difficult and dangerous work to fill 320 tanks a day, in the red zones of Port-au-Prince,” he said.
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