Health Minister Carvin Malone is assuring residents that all vaccines presently being administered in the BVI is from the new batch of AstraZeneca vaccines and not from the approximately 5500 doses that had expired at the end of July 31.
Minister Malone made the disclosure in a recent interview with 284 Media, where he dispelled circulating rumours which suggest that officials were still utilising old doses of the vaccine.
He said, “I would like to assure the general public that we have collected all of the bottles of the expired AstraZeneca vaccine from the various centers and private institutions that were administering these, we have a listing of the numbers that were brought back in, these are being disposed of in accordance with the policies and the procedures for disposal of unused vaccines.”
“The batches that are now being given, distributed to the clinics, to the private institutions, to the hospital only consist of those from the new batch that were received last week, the 3040 doses and these were received from the 380 vials. These will be distributed to those persons who seek to get their second dosage. It is from a new batch and not the old batch,” Malone further reiterated.
Approximately 5500 doses discarded
The health minister in a subsequent media briefing revealed that a total of 685 vials of the vaccine were disposed of after they had expired at the end of July.
According to Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr. Ronald Georges, one vial of the vaccine can administer between 8-9 doses, which according to our calculation, means that at least some 5480 doses were wasted.
Minister Malone said despite this wastage, his government will be doing all in its power to ensure the territory continues to receive vaccines to reach the goal of herd immunity.
“Your government remains steadfast and continues to do all that it can to ensure that the people of this Territory have every opportunity to get vaccinated. I am confident that we will get to the 80 percent needed for optimal protection against COVID-19 and its variants and that we will once again safely re-open; but again, we cannot and will not without the participation and willingness of you, the people in doing your part,” he said.
He added, “We must give a debt of gratitude again to the United Kingdom Government for providing the 3,040 doses of AstraZeneca that was received recently and is now being administered. The 685 vials were in fact properly disposed in a careful and protocol manner and we are now only administering only from the new bath of the 3,040 received.”
In the meantime, Minister Malone updated the territory on the latest vaccination statistics, revealing that some 12,187 persons were now fully vaccinated and 4,403 partially vaccinated to bring the total of fully and partially vaccinated persons to 16,590.