Last Updated on February 13, 2021, 6:19 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Basseterre: St Kitts & Nevis’ chief medical officer, Dr. Hazel Laws, said the initial acquisition of 21,600 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine would provide coverage for 20 percent of the national population in the country.
She said this during the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) COVID-19 Press Briefing on February 10th. “The doses are the product of the AstraZeneca, Oxford University vaccines,” she said.
“The start date for delivery may be as early as the end of February, but there were conditions where the specific delivery date would depend on the WHO approval process and other steps that our own implementation of vaccination plan and our readiness,” said Dr Laws said.
“It has determined that about 25% – 35% of the amount will be delivered in the first quarter and about 65-75% in the second quarter,” she said.
“The data from the clinical trials indicate that it offers an efficacy of 62 percent, but the clinical trials had since found that the vaccine had an efficacy of about 82 percent when two doses were given 12 weeks apart,” Dr Laws said.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
