Canada gifts Jamaica with 200,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines
KINGSTON, Jamaica— Jamaica on Thursday received 200,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Government of Canada, further boosting the island’s coronavirus vaccine stock.
The Ministry of Health and Wellness, in a tweet today, announced the donation of the vaccines, adding that it was a gift from Canada.
“#GetVaccinated. A donation of 200,000 COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by AstraZeneca has arrived in the island. This is a gift from the Govt of Canada,” the ministry said.
Jamaica’s inoculation drive has been aided in recent weeks with the arrival of hundreds of thousands of different brands of the vaccine.
On Monday night, 115,200 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccines arrived in the island.
The doses were purchased by the Government of Jamaica through the African Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP) and transported to the island by UNICEF, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade said.
Last month, the United Kingdom donated 300,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines, while over 208,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines were donated by the United States last week.
The donation of the latter has resulted in vaccination of children 12 years and older, a move that is expected to lead to the reopening of face-to-face classes later in the upcoming school year.
Further, Jamaicans now have three brands of vaccines to choose from as health officials step up their initiative to achieve herd immunity by March next year.
