Digicel Foundation adds $2m in equipment to vaccination centres
Digicel Foundation has donated approximately $2 million in supplies to support the national vaccination plan as part of the private sector resource mobilisation being facilitated by the Private Sector Vaccine Initiative (PSVI).
The items, which include twelve emergency trolleys with drawers, IV poles, defibrillator shelf, defibrillator board and oxygen tank holder along with 50 digital blood pressure machines, were handed over to Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton on Monday and will add to the inventory in use throughout the vaccination centres across the island.
“We’re proud to be donating these mobile carts and blood pressure machines, in partnership with the PSVI, to assist with the fight against COVID. Since March 2020, we’ve invested over US$1.6 million as a part of our dedicated efforts to assist the Government of Jamaica in creating a world where no one gets left behind,” explained Charmaine Daniels, CEO Digicel Foundation.
Peter Melhado, chair of the PSVI’s logistics and operations committee, in commending the foundation, pointed to the impact private sector support has had on the national vaccination plan.
“We are grateful to Digicel Foundation for this very important donation. The support we have been able to secure from private sector companies since we started the initiative in March has consistently bolstered the capacity of the Ministry of Health and Wellness to serve the public at the various vaccination sites across the island. This donation is another indication of the private sector’s commitment to the effort — through to a safe and full reopening of the Jamaican economy,” said Melhado.
Tufton outlined the importance of adding these mobile units to the national vaccination exercise:
“These carts and blood pressure machines will be used very frequently as we roll out the vaccination programme across the country. We vaccinate people in batches and we need to move very efficiently, so these carts will allow us to be on wheels, to carry a lot and to move quickly from patient to patient. Thanks again to Digicel Foundation; another very important partnership between the private sector and public health,” said Tufton.