BVI halts COVID-19 vaccination

BVI Health Minister Carvin Malone has announced that vaccination centres across the territory will be temporarily closed as of March 4 as the territory waits to get the next shipment of COVID-19 vaccines which has been pre-ordered.

Malone said that the government is saving the remaining 4,000 Aztrazeneca units donated by the United Kingdom for persons who’ve already taken their first dose.

“We have the situation where the other shipment was due on March 3 and it is now being delayed to March 17. So we made a promise to everyone taking it that we would have the second dose reserved.”

The health minister further explained that the inoculation programme will continue once the new shipment arrives.

When the other shipment arrives, we will then disperse, and we will continue in that regard so that anyone taking it will not risk, for any reason, this being done.”

Malone also noted that they are not disregarding the scenario wherein the next batch of the vaccines will not arrive on March 17.

“At the end of the day, we know that there are issues on hand when it comes to the AstraZeneca and the supply chain. There are challenges and we do not want to fall into the particular situation where the second dose is being called upon for anyone who received it and they don’t have it.”

The British Virgin Islands (BVI) received the first dose of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine last February 11

The first phase of the COVID-19 vaccination programme focused on private and public health professionals and frontline workers.