Despite slowdown in vaccination drive, Ministry of Health accepts more than 30,000 new Pfizer vaccines from the USA

With the Government’s vaccination drive slowing, despite repeated calls for residents to be inoculated, the Ministry of Health has received more than 30,000 Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines to add to its stock.

Reports say that three separate tranches of the drug arrived in Antigua and Barbuda, this week, from the United States.  

The donation of 32,400 doses of the Pfizer vaccine will be used to support the country’s ogoing fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health officials say this donation adds to the 40,950 Pfizer vaccines received within the past year and brings the total of US-donated vaccines to 73,350.

United States Ambassador Linda Tagliatela says that vaccines have been proven to reduce the risk of hospitalizations and death from COVID-19, and that, by working together, the Nation can ensure a healthier future and restore economic prosperity.

Meanwhile, the local vaccination figures have been stalled for some time now.   The latest dashboard shows that 60,963 people have been fully vaccinated, while 2,529 have received a single dose.

There are five new lab-confirmed cases of the virus, even as active infections have dropped to 76. These bring the total confirmed cases in Antigua and Barbuda to 7,400.

The Ministry of Health says the new cases are for Tuesday, February 15, and were realized from 69 samples processed at the hospital.

At present, there is one hospitalized case, which is said to be moderate, and nine recoveries were recorded during that time.