Jamaica quietly received 200,000 Sinopharm vaccine doses from China on Saturday.

The vaccines were donated courtesy of the People’s Republic of China, according to a tweet from the Ministry of Health and Wellness. 

“The vaccines, together with syringes, landed on the island on Saturday,” the ministry said on Monday.

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, told OBSERVER ONLINE that the shipment should have arrived last Friday but was delayed, suggesting that “logistics” may have resulted in a change of plans.

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kamina Johnson-Smith, lauded the Chinese Government for their donation of the vaccines.

“Many thanks to the Gov’t of the #PRC for this additional support to our #covid19 response. Thanks also to Amb. [Ambassador] Tony Hugh Ja’s Ambassador to China for overseeing logistics from Beijing,” she tweeted. 

Jamaica has received vaccines from several countries since March, when the first shipment arrived on the island as a gift from the Government of India.

The China-made Sinopharm will join Astrazeneca, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson in the pool of vaccines administered to the Jamaican population.

It was approved by the World Health Organization in May for emergency use.

As of Monday evening, a total of 1,078,932 doses of vaccines were administered locally.

Of that number, a total of 584,542 were first doses, while 429,882 were second doses.

Additionally, 64,508 single doses were administered by health officials.