Jamaica To Get AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine In Mid February
The Health and Wellness Minister’s Office have released the statement that Jamaica is to receive between 146,400 and 249,600 doses of #AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine by middle of February 2021. This means that some 125,000 Jamaicans could receive vaccines by the end of February into March.
The statement indicated that if the additional supplies of vaccine under the COVAX arrangement are received, Jamaica will be able to vaccinate some 450,000 thousand Jamaicans by the end of the year.
The first group of people to receive the vaccine are nurses, doctors and then the vulnerable, especially people 60 years and older.
AstraZeneca has received more than $1 billion from the U.S. Health Department’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority to develop a coronavirus vaccine from the University of Oxford.
The United Kingdom became the first country to approve AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use on Dec. 30, just weeks after Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccine candidates received a green light from the Food and Drug Administration in the United States. This vaccine was developed by Oxford University and biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.
The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has provided authorisation for emergency supply of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, formerly AZD1222, for the active immunisation of individuals 18 years or older. The authorisation recommends two doses administered with an interval of between four and 12 weeks.
According to AstraZeneca, this regimen was shown in clinical trials to be safe and effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19, with no severe cases and no hospitalisations more than 14 days after the second dose.
How does the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine work?
According to Prevention.com, AstraZeneca’s vaccine uses adenovirus-vectored technology. Translation: It’s a harmless, modified version of a common cold virus that usually only spreads among chimpanzees. This altered virus can’t make you sick, but it carries a gene from the novel coronavirus’ spike protein, the portion of the virus that triggers an immune response. This allows the immune system to manufacture antibodies that work against COVID-19, teaching your body how to respond should you become infected.
Despite reassurances from vaccine makers, many Jamaicans have reservations of taking the vaccine as governments around the world and including the Jamaican government are passing laws to restrict persons from suing the vaccine makers in case of severe side effects.