Jamaica puts pause on Russian vaccine offer

Russia has offered to supply the Jamaican Government with the Sputnik V vaccine amid a record upsurge in coronavirus infections but the Holness administration has reasserted that it would only proceed with jabs approved by global health authorities.

The offer is one of a suite of options on the table as the country prepares to tap up to quarter million vaccines under the COVAX Facility in a roll-out scheduled to begin late February.

The Jamaican Government will be heartened by news on Thursday that the World Health Organization has given its approval for the deployment of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to all ages. Trial data on the vaccine’s effect on the elderly are still outstanding, however.

Several European nations, including Germany, France, and Poland, had advised that they would not give the green light to the inoculation of persons 65 and older with AstraZeneca because of a lack of data about its efficacy and impact during trials.

The World Health Organization’s Strategic Advisory Groups of Experts said the vaccine should be dispensed in two doses eight to 12 weeks apart.

Jamaica, a leading nation in the CARICOM bloc, is lagging behind some Eastern Caribbean countries, like Barbados, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Dominica, with the deployment of COVID-19 vaccines. British overseas territories like Montserrat and nearby Cayman Islands have also been dispensing vaccines.

Vladimir Vinokurov, the Russian ambassador based here, said that Jamaica’s Ministry of Health was among Latin American and Caribbean countries that participated in a presentation hosted by the Russian Direct Investment Fund on September 10, 2020, informing them of the Sputnik vaccine. He revealed that there has been no further discussion.

“If Jamaica expresses any interest, we are ready to help,” Vinokurov told The Gleaner on Wednesday.

Permanent Secretary Dunstan Bryan declined to comment on whether the Ministry of Health and Wellness had commenced talks with the Putin administration, preferring to refer The Gleaner to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

Enquiries to Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith, through her communications liaison, did not garner a response up to press time.

PREMATURE APPROVAL

Russia was the first country to declare that its vaccine was ready for market but that quick approval was viewed by many Western countries as premature.

Despite intense scrutiny and questions about the scientific rigour of Russian scientists, Sputnik V has an efficacy of 92 per cent, according to the respected science journal Lancet.

That ranking places it in the realms of other vaccines such as the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and AstraZeneca.

The West’s cold shoulder to Sputnik has been cast in some quarters as more than science – hinting at decades-long ideological iciness.

Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said that geopolitical intrigue between the West and Russia and China would have no bearing on the vaccine discussion.

“What has been more important to us is that the vaccines are safe and deemed so to be by the competent authority, which is the World Health Organization, and that is what has driven us to date, nothing else,” Tufton told The Gleaner on Wednesday.

“Once the WHO signs off and the vaccines are available, then we go right ahead,” he said.

Jamaica, as at Wednesday, recorded 18,237 COVID-19 infections and 363 deaths.

Vinokurov said that high interest in Sputnik V from a number of countries has prompted Russian authorities to seek approval for distribution throughout the European Union. That process started days ago, he said.

At least 24 countries, including six in Latin America and the Caribbean, have approved the Russian vaccine.

St Vincent and the Grenadines was the first Caribbean country to express an interest in Sputnik. Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves was among the few who received the jab from the 20 doses initially given to the country.

About 1.5 million people have accepted the Russian vaccine.

Indian high commissioner to Jamaica, Masakui Rungsung, said that his country has conveyed its interest in donating vaccines to Jamaica but was still waiting on the Government’s nod of approval to begin exports.

In short order, the Indian government will announce how the 500,000 doses being made available to CARICOM countries will be distributed. To date, India has exported 10 million doses of vaccine to approximately 25 countries, including 70,000 to Dominica and 100,000 to Barbados. More than seven million people have been vaccinated in India.

Chinese consular spokesman Xia Shaowu said no update was available on vaccine cooperation talks between Beijing and Kingston.

jonielle.daley@gleamerjm.com