Implementation Plan For Vaccine Distribution Outlined

Health Minister Dr. Christopher Tufton has issued the implementation plan for the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Minister says the vaccination population will be divided into three phases. Phase one will be members of the vulnerable group, which was determined on a number of factors including age and exposure to the disease. These individuals include: Health Care Workers, the elderly, Government officials, members of the Jamaica Defence Force and the Jamaica Constabulary Force, persons who work in the schools, the Jamaica Fire Brigade and Passport and Immigration Agency.

Phase two include persons who are essential to Jamaica’s economic activity and Phase three is the general population.

Meanwhile, the Minister states that the administering of the vaccines will be done on an appointment basis, in which individuals will need to book an appointment five days before receiving the vaccine and are expected to provide some basic information to the health authority.

Upon entering the vaccination centre, there are five stages in the process: counseling, vaccine administration, observation and documentation. This is expected to take approximately 35 to 52 minutes.

Vaccination locations will be managed under a three-level system, with monitoring conducted by members of the healthcare and national security systems. The first level will be managed by the public health system. Level two will be managed by the public health system and level three which is referred to as the ‘blitz’ exercise will be managed by the Jamaica Defense force, with the assistance of several members of the public and private health systems.

” The ‘blitz’ exercise is an activity that will see 1000 persons being vaccinated per day at a large location. These sites will however only operate on the weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) and will be managed by the Jamaica Defense Force.”

Minister of Health, Dr. Christopher Tufton

To add the Minister says 65% of the population is expected to be vaccinated by March 2022.

Vaccine Supply and Cost

Additionally, Dr. Tufton highlights the different vaccine suppliers and the estimated cost at which the vaccine will be provided. The vaccines will be provided by the COVAX Facility, Africa Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP), Moderna, India, and the Private Sector.

Additionally, the Ministry of Health says it is looking to source four million doses of vaccines by March 2022.