The World Health Organization (WHO) today listed two versions of the AstraZeneca/Oxford COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, giving the green light for these vaccines to be rolled out globally through COVAX. The vaccines are produced by AstraZeneca-SKBio (Republic of Korea) and the Serum Institute of India.
“This is good news for us, as a country, as we move closer to the introduction of vaccines in the island, as part of our COVID-19 response. We can now further seek out other sources that have these approved vaccines available, even as we anticipate the arrival of some doses of these COVID-19 Vaccines manufactured by AstraZeneca in the coming weeks through the COVAX facility,” Tufton said.
The COVAX (COVID-19 Global Access) Facility brings together governments, global health organisations, manufacturers, scientists, private sector, civil society, and philanthropy to provide innovative and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.
“Vaccination has proven an undeniable success in the public health toolkit to reduce the burden of infectious disease in Jamaica as well as globally. Immunization – the process by which a person becomes protected against a disease through vaccination – has proven to be one of the most successful and cost-effective health interventions ever,” Dr. Tufton added.