Covax: ‘Countries that met criteria received Covid-19 vaccination in February’
Health officials said earlier in February that Georgia would receive the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine by the end of February. Photo by: Lisa Ferdinando / U.S. Secretary of Defense / CC BY
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Covid-19 vaccine platform Covax explains that in February the vaccine was sent only to countries that met the criteria set by them, announces local media outlet Interpressnews.
The national regulator of all participating countries must authorise the vaccine to be imported; Also, all participants must sign a compensation contract with the vaccine manufacturers in order to be able to receive doses from the Covax platform”, says Covax.
Health officials said earlier in February that Georgia would receive the first doses of the coronavirus vaccine by the end of February. However, on February 24 the Health Ministry said that the exact date of Covid-19 vaccine import was not known yet.
The Deputy Health Minister Tamar Gabunia said the delay is linked to ‘additional demands from Pfizer’, though she did not specify what kind of demands the company has.
The first Covid-19 vaccine to be introduced in Georgia is the Pfizer vaccine.
- First doses of Pfizer vaccine to arrive in Georgia in late February
- Georgia to receive first doses of COVID-19 vaccine in early March instead of February
The Ministry of Health said earlier in February that Georgia would receive 29,250 doses of the Pfizer vaccine by the end of the month, which would suffice for nearly 14,500 medical workers.
Health officials also said that after the Pfizer vaccine, Georgia would receive 31,500 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine in early March via the Covax platform, while the other 150,000 doses would be imported based on direct negotiations with the British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca.
The Georgian government has plans to vaccinate 60% of the country’s population of 3.7 million people this year.
Georgian Health Officials say that the country will be able to receive only 200,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine against coronavirus as of today as Georgia lacks refrigeration facilities to keep the vaccines in mandatory -80 degree conditions.
While discussing the Covid-19 vaccination process with Director-General of the WHO Tedros Adanom Gebreisus, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has stated the government is doing its best for Georgia to receive first doses of vaccine as soon as possible.
About 14,000 medical workers will receive the Pfizer vaccine once Georgia will receive it in the middle of February, Head of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Amiran Gamkrelidze said today.
The first doses of Pfizer vaccine that will be administered to health workers are due to arrive in Georgia by late February. Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia has made an announcement following his phone conversation with the World Health Organisation head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus earlier today.
Deputy Health Minister Tamar Gabunia has responded to a statement issued by the Covid-19 vaccine platform Covax which explained the delay in the delivery of the vaccine as being due to the fact that vaccines were only sent to countries that met the criteria and Georgia was not among them.
“Be assured that Georgia will receive its first doses of the Covid-19 vaccine via the Covax platform this month”, Head of the National Centre for Disease Control Amiran Gamkrelidze said at a briefing earlier today.
The Pfizer vaccine is expected to arrive in Georgia in the week of March 22, announces Deputy Health Minister Tamar Gabunia. Gabunia said that the AstraZeneca vaccine may also be introduced in the country by the end of March.