NEWS WRAP: COVID-19 vaccination updates in the Caribbean
Cuba’s vaccine forerunner entering third phase of trials
Executives of the Finlay Vaccine Institute (IFV) have confirmed that the Soberana 02 COVID-19 vaccine’s third phase of clinical trials will proceed in Havana next month.
A Cuban vaccine candidate has demonstrated a “high degree of safety and reliability” in previous trials confirmed by Dr. Vicente Vérez, director general of the IFV.
News website On Cuban News cited the newspaper Tribuna de La Habana in its report.
According to the deputy director of IFV, Yuri Valdés, the trial with Soberana 02 will now be extended to different parts of the city after the first two phases of the study being carried out in the capital’s municipality, Plaza de la Revolución.
In order to assure the third phase of the trials, authorities from the BioCubaFarma business group and the Finlay Vaccine Institute have announced the scaled up production of the vaccine candidate at Biocen’s bioparent plant.
St. Kitts & Nevis politicians first to get AstraZeneca jab
As the immunization drive launched the past week, among the first to receive the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in St. Kitts & Nevis were Premier Mark Brantley and other Cabinet Ministers of the Nevis Island Administration (NIA).
In efforts to establish herd immunity in the island, Brantley, who is also Senior Minister of Health in the NIA, said his Cabinet is leading by example by showing the Nevisian public that getting vaccinated against the virus is safe and highly recommended.
The Caribbean National Weekly reported that other senior health officials who also had their first jabs of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Wednesday include Medical Officer of Health and Chair of Nevis’ COVID-19 Task Force, Dr. Judy Nisbett, and Chandreka Persaud-Wallace, Matron-designate of the Alexandra Hospital.
The government of St. Kitts and Nevis received its first batch of 2,000 doses from Dominica, which was gifted from a larger batch by the Government of India that was also shared with its Eastern Caribbean neighbors. The island launched its national vaccination program earlier this week.
Vaccination drive in Aruba underway
In another separate report of the Caribbean News Weekly, Aruba continued its vaccination drive this week with Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes being among the first in getting the jab towards efforts to encourage more of the population to follow example.
Volunteers formed by community leaders and frontline workers helped to kick-off the vaccination drive after a delivery of almost 12,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine arrived in the country earlier this week.
During a press briefing, Minister of Tourism, Public Health and Sport Dangui Oduber said the aim was to have all inoculations done by later this year.
Arubans have access to four vaccination centers located across the island, all of which require pre-registration. Aruba, being the first country in the Dutch Caribbean to begin a COVID-19 immunization campaign, expects to get more vaccine doses from the Netherlands in coming weeks.
Royal Caribbean requires COVID-19 vaccinations for guests and crew
Meanwhile, as the cruise line industry look for ways to restart after the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of companies have started announcing vaccination requirements for guests and crew members.
A spokesperson for the Royal Caribbean tells an Insider report that they expect to have their crewmembers vaccinated before sailings return.
Vaccine rollout and accessibility has been a well-known struggle around the world.
However over the last month, cruise lines have become increasingly vocal about the vaccine. While some companies are assessing the different vaccines, several others like Royal Caribbean have already announced vaccination protocols for guests and crewmembers.