Haiti - COVID-19 : Haiti is still not ready to receive vaccines
Haiti, which is one of the four countries in the world (out of 192 countries contaminated by Covid-19) not to have started to vaccinate its population and also one of the 12 countries in America and the Caribbean to benefit from free vaccines anti-Covid-19 via the COVAX program, has still not taken the necessary steps to receive a single vaccine, lamented the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) on Wednesday.
"Haiti is still in the process to finalize the arrangements that all the other countries have made to be able to receive these vaccines," said Dr. Jarbas Barbosa, PAHO Deputy Director without specifying the reasons for the delay, recalling "BPrior to receiving vaccines, Haiti’s health ministry needs to ensure that all measures are in place, like the training of personnel and logistics including storage and surveillance, as well as authorizing the import of the AstraZeneca vaccine."
As part of its first shipment, the country should receive 756,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine (first phase) that Haiti initially refused, preferring to have another vaccine more suitable for Haiti despite Tedros Adhanom Gebreyesus, the Director of the World Health Organization has informed Haiti that "if it confirms that it does not want to receive these free vaccines, they will be reassigned to other countries" stressing "there is no option to change these doses by another vaccine for the countries which receive them in the form of donations"https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33495-haiti-covid-19-the-refusal-of-the-astrazeneca-vaccine-donation-could-cost-haiti-millions-of-dollars.html as requested by the Haitian Ministry of Health to Gavi, the Geneva-based public-private vaccine alliance that runs the COVAX program with WHO, to consider replacing the AstraZeneca vaccine with a single injection vaccine (Johnson & Johnson) https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33448-haiti-health-the-minister-of-health-wants-another-vaccine-than-astrazeneca.html . If Haiti maintains its position the country will have to spend millions of dollars to buy another vaccine of its choice and vaccinate the population.
Note that with the generalization of international vaccination cards or "passports", it may be impossible in the future for an unvaccinated person to travel...
