St Vincent and the Grenadines receives 40,000 jabs of Covishield from India

St Vincent: St Vincent and the Grenadines today received 40,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from India under the vaccine Maitri initiate. The RSS plane landed at the international airport at around 12 noon after distributing the vaccines to Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts and Nevis, and St Lucia. Prime Minister Ralph Gonzalez personally reached the airport to receive the consignment. According to sources, the Oxford Astra-Zeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India was sent by India to 5 Caribbean nations. There are a total of 175,000 jabs of the Covishield vaccine to help countries to tackle the global pandemic. Caribbean leaders extolled Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for launching an exemplary initiative to help other nations get stronger during the global health crisis. Being the largest manufacturer of the COVID-19 vaccine, India is now a global leader in distributing the vaccines to other nations as it has currently offered over 500,000 vaccines to only the Caribbean region.

Earlier, the Commonwealth of Dominica and Barbados had received around 170,000 Covishield vaccines from India, after which both nations displaying comradery, shared their vaccine with sister nations to help them immunize their frontline workers.

As far as Vaccine supplies are concerned, all the governments have recommended and prioritized immunizing health workers and all other people who are at high risk of exposure to the virus, including people who are most vulnerable aged over 65.

According to instructions by WHO, the vaccination is recommended to the people who are comorbid or have been identified with severe risk of coronavirus, including high obesity, heart diseases, respiratory diseases, and diabetes.

It is necessary to give the jab to people who have had tested positive for the coronavirus, but it can be delayed for up to 6 months as other people who do not have the immunity could get the vaccine first.

People suffering from severe allergic reactions to any vaccine element are advised not to take the jab. Moreover, the vaccine is not recommended for the youngsters who are younger than 18 years as results below this age are pending.