$2.2B spent to purchase COVID-19 vaccines to date

…“Govt fought for vaccines for our people” – President Ali

The People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Government has been able to ensure almost 300,000 persons were vaccinated against the dreaded COVID-19 virus and according to an impassioned President Dr Irfaan Ali, the Government fought to secure those vaccines for the people of Guyana.
He made this statement during a press conference on Monday. The A Partnership for National Unity/Alliance For Change (APNU/AFC) has been particularly critical of the Government’s procurement of the Sputnik V vaccine. But according to President Ali, the Government sees no distinction between Sputnik and other vaccines such as Pfizer and Moderna.

“We see no distinction in the vaccination programme. Whether its Sputnik, Sinopharm, Pfizer, Moderna, there’s no distinction for us and in our eyes. Because we fought for Pfizer, we fought for Moderna. We fought for Johnson and Johnson. And we could not get it. But we were able to get Sputnik. And we invested in it, because the lives of the people mattered,” he said.
The President also spoke of the importance of ensuring that everyone is vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. In commenting on the restrictions that Government has imposed, he noted that the Government does not want to risk the lives of its citizens in order to open the economy. Hence, he reiterated his call for persons to take the vaccines.
“I appeal once again, to all, to protect yourselves. Shelter your family. Safeguard your country. Please, get inoculated. Your Government has a responsibility to defend the health of all. That is why we have had to introduce measures lasting throughout the month of August.”
“That includes a curfew. Limitations on certain social activities. Restrictions on public movements of unvaccinated persons. And shorter opening times for some businesses. Your Government would much prefer an open economy.”

Expenditure on vaccines
It would subsequently come to light via written replies from Health Minister Dr Frank Anthony in response to questions from the parliamentary Opposition, that the Government has so far spent $2.2 billion to purchase vaccines for Guyana. Included in this amount is the logistical cost of getting the vaccines to Guyana.
The Minister was asked about the factors that led to the decision to purchase Sputnik V, Sinopharm and Janssen vaccines, a product of Johnson and Johnson. He went on to explain in his submission that among other things, COVAX’s inability to fulfil its commitment played a role.
COVAX is a worldwide initiative that aimed to ensure poorer countries would have access to vaccines just as more developed countries did. COVAX was supposed to have supplied enough vaccines for 20 per cent of Guyana’s population. But according to the Minister, this was never done.

“COVAX had difficulty fulfilling this commitment because of the global shortage and funding difficulties. So far, that quota has not been filled. Pfizer had made bilateral commitments with more affluent countries and doses from the company would only become available in 2022.”
“In the early part of the year, Moderna could not export the vaccine to other countries because of export restrictions and supply commitments to the US Government. That is changing now… the global shortage of vaccine raw materials resulted in lower vaccine production,” the Minister also said in his response.
The Minister also cited the increased domestic demand for vaccines when manufacturing countries experienced a surge of cases due to new variants. Additionally, this situation led to countries stopping exports to give priority to their domestic needs, further compounding global shortages. (G3)