Sputnik 2nd doses to arrive within 7 days – President

…says Govt will not hesitate to purchase booster shots

Thousands of Guyanese currently awaiting their second dose of the Sputnik V vaccine have been assured that another shipment containing this component will arrive in Guyana within seven days.
Global shortages of the Russia-manufactured jab would have disrupted the supply chain, posing challenges for authorities to access more vaccines. At a press conference on Friday, President Dr Irfaan Ali informed that the jabs would arrive soon.
“From the inception, dealing with vaccination and the pandemic, we have tried to get any vaccines. You name the vaccine, we tried. We have been engaging the suppliers. We have been engaging Russia to ensure that we have a steady supply. As of now, by what was told to us, in the next five to six days we’re expecting a shipment from the suppliers,” he told media operatives.
The Head of State noted that since the unavailability of these jabs became apparent, Government has been actively engaging various Russian counterparts to have a timely delivery of more second doses. However, it has been challenging.
“Every night, we are on the phone directly dealing with this, talking to the Ambassador of Russia, talking to Russia directly, talking to every stakeholder who can assist in this. That is an important part of our agenda. Within the next seven days, we expect to have a shipment of the component two of Sputnik vaccines,” Dr Ali said.
Last week, it was reported that 80,000 persons were waiting to be inoculated with the second dose of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine. This data was released by Health Minister, Dr Frank Anthony during the coronavirus briefing.
Government had first ordered 400,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine – 200,000 first doses and 200,000 second doses. From that, Guyana has already received the 200,000 first doses as well as 61,000 of the second doses.

The country then placed a second order for 86,000 doses, comprising 43,000 first doses and 43,000 second doses. However, while all of the first doses from this second order were received, none of the second doses were delivered. Thereafter, smaller batches of the second component have been arriving.
Within recent weeks, limited supplies of the second component arriving in the country have been immediately exhausted at vaccination sites. The Sputnik V shots are taken within a four-to-12-week interval but those persons closer to the 90-day deadline are being prioritised. The Health Minister has consistently indicated that every person would receive their last vaccine before this timeline expires.

Third doses
With talk circulating about booster shots in reinforcing protection against deadlier variants, the President has declared that the Government would not hesitate to invest in a third dose if it was backed by evidence and became necessary.
Dr Ali said, “The issue of the third dose, that is something we would have to examine. There is no clarity on it. There is no clarity on how effective the third dose is, but if a third dose is necessary, especially dealing with the variations of the virus, then we will make no hesitation in investing in the third dose too, because the life of our people matter.”
Generally, Government has held bilateral discussions with countries, namely India, China, Russia, the United States, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates as well as the European Union. In addition, Guyana has had bilateral talks with manufacturers AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, Sinopharm, Covaxin, and Russian Direct Investment Fund. There were discussions with several multilateral organisations, including the Organisation of Islamic States, the African Union/Caricom initiative and COVAX.
So far, Guyana has been able to secure v 120,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from COVAX with more to arrive until 20 per cent of the population is covered. There were donations of 3000 doses of AstraZeneca from Barbados, 20,000 Sinopharm doses from China and another 80,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India; and another 84,800 AstraZeneca vaccines from the United Kingdom.
Through an African Union/Caricom Agreement, 34,000 doses of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine have also been delivered, along with another purchase of 100,000 Sinopharm jabs. Meanwhile, the US Government’s contribution of 146,250 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech jabs have been used to immunise children. (G12)