During the National Vaccination Plan presentation on Monday, 15 February 2021, President Luis Abinader said that the government has purchased vaccinations for Dominican citizens. When asked about the undocumented persons in the country, the President cited the red tape involved in the issuing of the vaccination cards each Dominican citizen will receive with details on the vaccine and where and when the second dose would be applied. He said there are red tape complications for registering undocumented persons in the system.
President Abinader said the country would start inoculating Dominicans first. He remarked on the lack of solidarity of wealthy countries and wondered if they would help vaccinate undocumented persons in the country.
During the press conference, President Abinader referred to the high cost of the vaccines. President Abinader said that the cost of the vaccines has been:
Pfizer US$12 per dose. Purchase of 768,000 doses.
AstraZeneca US$4-US$6. Purchase of 7.9 million doses.
Coronavac/Sinovac US$21. Covoshield (AstraZeneca-India), cost not disclosed.
All the vaccines are purchased directly from the manufacturers in their countries of origin, except the AstraZeneca purchased from the UK and from the manufacturer in India.
The President did not address the case of foreign residents in the Dominican Republic. Those with IDs and residency cards are already in the system. Thus this obstacle mentioned by the President would not be an issue.
There is a population of more than 10 million people in Haiti. More than half of the people that live in Haiti are undocumented. The Dominican border with Haiti and Haiti has the lowest rate of Covid-19 in the world. This is attributed to widespread tuberculosis and Ivermectin treatments in Haiti.
The announcement will also affect around 100,000 Venezuelan persons in the Dominican Republic. These are expected to regularize their status this year with a special facility granted by the Abinader administration.
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Press conference
15 February 2021