BROOKLYN, NY – Amid residents’ tentativeness about taking the Sinopharm vaccine from China, and with no definitive date for the arrival of the next shipment of other COVID-19 vaccines, Minister of Health and Wellness Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic has urged Barbadians to “make use” of the vaccines available to them.
He explained that Government was still waiting on the last shipment of vaccines – 33 000 doses – through the COVAX Facility and those promised by United States President Joe Biden to Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states.
Bostic said a large shipment of vaccines, which was anticipated for some time, still had not made it here.
The Health Minister blamed the delays on the difficulties small developing states were facing in acquiring COVID-19 vaccines.
“I know there are some people who might prefer Pfizer for one reason or another or Moderna. I say, make use of whatever vaccines we have available here in Barbados that have been approved because we don’t know when we will get those other vaccines. There have been challenges, and this is a global problem; it is not affecting Barbados alone,” he said on Wednesday.
When asked about the Sinopharm vaccine, the Health Minister said the Ministry would have to ramp up its public education on the vaccine to increase uptake.
He stressed that Sinopharm had been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) for emergency use just like the other vaccines that came before it.
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