The Dominican government announced it would purchase 110,000 doses of the Indian-made vaccine Covishield. The vaccine requires two doses. As reported, the first batches of the vaccine would arrive in March. These are expected to be the first vaccines to be applied in the country. The Indian vaccine requires normal refrigeration.
The vaccine was approved on an emergency basis, and the Dominican government expects the Serum Institute of India to be the first company to deliver Covid-19 vaccine doses to the country. No specific date has been given, but the government has hopes the first batch would arrive in March 2021.
The first dose of the vaccine would be provided to around 12,500 front line health care workers of the health force of 210,000.
The vaccine, produced in India has been authorized for use by 12 health authorities around the world. Covishield is the Indian name for the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine developed in the UK. India is a vaccine powerhouse: it makes 60% of the world’s vaccines and is home to half a dozen major manufacturers. The Serum Institute of India is the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer. It says it is producing more than 50 million Covid-19 doses a month.
BBC reports that Covishield is made from a weakened version of a common cold virus (known as an adenovirus) from chimpanzees. It has been modified to look more like coronavirus – although it can’t cause illness. When the vaccine is injected into a patient, it prompts the immune system to start making antibodies and primes it to attack any coronavirus infection.
The Dominican government has announced that it is investing RD$13 billion in the nationwide vaccination effort. So far, the government has contracted for 7.9 million doses with Pfizer-BioNTech, 10 million with Oxford-AstraZeneca, 768,000 doses with Sinovac BioTech and now 110,000 with Covishield, developed by AstraZeneca of India. It is also on the distribution list with the Covax Facility with the World Health Organization for 542,000 doses.
The Presidency has said it will announce the vaccination plan on Monday, 15 February 2021. The DR expects to vaccinate 7.8 million people by December 2021.
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Listin Diario
15 February 2021