By Caribbean News Global contributor
CASTRIES, St Lucia – The Ministry of Health (MOH) on Monday, February 1, 2021, announced that Saint Lucia, like the rest of the world, is working diligently to access COVID-19 vaccines that are safe, efficacious, and of good quality.
“As a member of the COVAX Advanced market Commitment (AMC) group, Saint Lucia will benefit from vaccines to cover 20 percent of the population in Phase 1 of the distribution process as the supply of vaccines are still limited. The focus is to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines. Whilst Saint Lucia will receive its initial supply, the country will procure additional vaccines to ensure everyone who needs the vaccine receives it. The MOH has established a COVID-19 Vaccine Committee which is planning and coordinating the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine introduction and deployment in the country. Saint Lucia’s COVID-19 vaccine deployment will have a three-phased approach, targeting priority groups first, based on the level of exposure and risk to COVID-19.”
The MOH says that, in the initial phase of the program, when vaccine supply will be limited, 20 percent of the general population will be covered. Hence, the critical population will be targeted in the early phases of the programme.
The target group includes:
- Inpatient and other high-exposure Health Care Workers;
- High risk first responders (Police and Fire);
- Persons 65 years and older;
- Persons in elderly homes and caregivers Elderly in the communities;
- Persons living with chronic non-communicable diseases; prioritizing those 65 years and older, then those 16 to 64 years.
In the second phase, when supply is increased, the MOH will work with all stakeholders to ensure that all remaining Phase 1 are vaccinated and those targeted under Phase 2 of the programme.
These include:
- Persons of medium risk – Health Care Workers, Firemen, Policemen, Caregivers; and,
- International agencies personnel
- Persons with Non-Communicable Diseases.
During the third phase, when there will have adequate vaccine supply to cover the general population, the MOH will focus on vaccinating the following target population:
- Low-risk Health Care Workers, Firemen and policemen;
- Non-essential workers;
- Rest of the population.
# CNG Insights
On January 29, 2021, the European Commission introduced The export authorisation scheme for the 27-member bloc, “in an effort to ensure timely access to COVID-19 vaccines for all EU citizens and to tackle the current lack of transparency of vaccine exports outside the EU.”
Related: Latin America – Caribbean notified of first COVID-19 vaccine allocations through COVAX
According to the MOH: “Before vaccines are made available, the MOH must ensure that the vaccine has gone through a thorough regulatory process, and is prequalified by the World Health Organization (WHO),” added, “ to date, the Pfizer vaccine is the only one which has been prequalified by the WHO. Other vaccines such as Moderna and Astrazenica, have received Emergency Use Approval (EUA), and await the full prequalification from WHO.
“According to international agencies, such as the Global Alliance of Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and WHO, the regulatory process is in its advanced stage, and will be finalized in the coming weeks. In light of this discussions are ongoing regarding which vaccine or vaccines will be prequalified for the Caribbean. Notwithstanding, logistics are in place to receive and deploy whichever vaccine is made available. It is expected that vaccines will be available towards the end of the first quarter of 2021.”
The MOH advised as part of the planning, that it “has developed a communication strategy, using a multi-media approach. There continues to be dialogue at all levels – international, regional, and national. The communication is phased to align with the phased approach to the introduction of the vaccine targeting priority groups. There is also value in reaching out to the communities, and as such health educators will be working with various partners at the community level.”
In addition, says the MOH, in the initial phase, the focus will be on internal stakeholders such as nurses, physicians and other key persons; after which there will be engagement with external stakeholders. The internal sensitization has commenced and will be intensified in the coming weeks.
“As Saint Lucia prepares to roll out the COVID-19 vaccine introduction in the next few weeks, it is important to understand the willingness of the population to be vaccinated against COVID-19, as doubts and misconceptions can negatively impact the uptake of the vaccine. To this end, a survey will be conducted, aimed at gaining an insight into the attitudes of the population towards COVID-19 vaccination. While participation is voluntary, support is needed from everyone as the information provides an opportunity to inform efforts and strategies aimed at curbing the spread of the virus and keeping everyone safe. There will be an official media launch of the survey in the coming weeks,” the MOH said in a release.
