KINGSTON, Jamaica — Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dunstan Bryan, says that, to date, some 580 people have been trained to be part of the country’s vaccination programme.

Bryan made the disclosure while responding to questions regarding the turnout of nurses for training sessions, during a virtual press conference on March 8.

“We have had several training sessions over the last three weeks with full participation of different types of healthcare workers that will be part of the overall implementation,” he said.

The Government is to administer the first set of vaccines in the fight against the coronavirus (COVID-19) starting today, Wednesday, March 10.

Today, a total of 1,930 people will be administered the vaccines through the South East Regional Health Authority (SERHA), 530 through Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA), 520 through North East Regional Health Authority (NERHA), and 300 through Southern Regional Health Authority (SRHA), the Health Ministry said.

At the end of week one, the Government intends to vaccinate 17,050 healthcare workers, according to the Permanent Secretary.

Jamaica received the first 50,000 doses of vaccines from India, at the Norman Manley International Airport, on March 8.

The vaccination process is slated to be rolled out in three phases. Phase one is categorised as vulnerable groups; phase two, essential to economic activity; and phase three, general public.