The Government of Guyana, this morning, received 83,000 doses of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine manufactured in Russian.
The shipment arrived at Cheddi Jagan International Airport this morning.
The Government has purchased about 200,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine up to $ 4 billion. About 24,000 doses were sent through the COVAX mechanism – the first tranche of 100,800 shots. The Chinese and Indian Governments also issued 20,000 and 80,000 vaccines while Barbados sent 3000.
The Sputnik V vaccine, developed by the Gamaleya National Epidemiology and Microbiology Research Institute in Moscow, uses two different viruses that cause the common cold (adenovirus) in humans. The adenoviruses are weakened so they cannot replicate in humans and cannot cause disease. They are also modified so that the vaccine introduces a code for making the coronavirus spike protein. This aims to ensure that when the real virus tries to infect the body, it can respond immune in the form of antibodies.
Sputnik uses a different vector for each of the two shots in a vaccination course. This provides immunity with longer duration than vaccines using the same distribution mechanism for both shots, according to the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). The two shots are given 21 days apart.
Sputnik V is to be stored at -18 ° C in its liquid form. However, in its freeze-dried form, it can be stored at 2-8 ° C, in a conventional refrigerator without the need to invest in additional cold chain infrastructure. Sputnik V has been approved for use in over 55 countries with a total population of over 1.5 billion people, according to RDIF. He has offered to price the vaccine at less than US $ 10 per shot.
On Thursday, the Government announced the broader eligibility requirement for COVID-19 vaccination that allows people aged 18 and over to be immunized. Guyana began its vaccination exercise in February and to date, more than 70,000 people have received the first of two doses.
As the vaccination process is rolled out with nearly 100 permanent sites in the 10 regions as well as temporary sites in some areas, forecasts are being maintained in communities every day.