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Health Minister expecting "fairly large amount" of vaccines from US donation

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Dr. Christopher Tufton
 
Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton has said he expects Jamaica will receive a sizeable amount of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 doses being donated by the United States.
 
Almost 19 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine will be shared through the COVAX Facility, including six million doses for Latin America and the Caribbean.
 
Speaking during the Ministry of Health's weekly media briefing on Thursday, Dr. Tufton explained how he believes the allocation will be decided. 
 
"Given that Jamaica ranks one of the most populous countries in the region, if you were to go by the percentage of the population vaccinated and the overall population, then we would certainly be one of those countries in the Caribbean region to receive a fairly large amount," he reasoned.
 
Dr. Tufton said as more vaccine doses are received by Jamaica, the Ministry of Health will have to plan how it will reach more persons for inoculation.
 
The minister, who was responding to concerns about vaccine hesitancy, said it was too early to determine the level of hesitancy, as the issue of adequate supply of doses would first have to be eliminated.
 
He outlined that the Ministry of Health is planning other means, such as carrying out vaccinations in community church halls and engaging private doctors, in order to get more Jamaicans vaccinated. He said when these strategies are implemented, they will also provide a "better sense as to the extent of vaccine hesitancy." 
 


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