A total number of 650,000 persons representing 52% of the population and nearly 54% of the adult population, that is, two out of three adults in the Republic of Mauritius have at date been administered the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine out of the target of immunising 62% of the population by August 2021. Over 531,000, that is, more than 42% of the population and 50% of the adults have been administered both doses.

The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Kumar Singh Jagutpal, was replying, today, in the National Assembly to a Private Notice Question regarding the vaccination campaign in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in Mauritius.

Dr Jagutpal indicated that out of some 230,000 persons over 60 years old, 145,872 persons have been fully vaccinated representing 63.4%. Furthermore, out of 280,000 persons with co-morbidities including the elderly, 169,462 persons have been fully vaccinated representing 60.5%.

With regards to the procurement of COVID-19 vaccines, he further pointed out that as at now his Ministry has already received 200,000 doses of Covishield; 200,000 doses of Covaxin; and 1,100,000 doses of Sinopharm. These vaccines, he added have been administered in a timely manner with due compliance to cold chain management, side effect monitoring and expiry date while ensuring no wastage of doses.

Moreover, Dr Jagutpal highlighted that his Ministry has procured 60,000 doses of component I (one) of Sputnik V Vaccines from the Russian Development Investment Fund; and 72,400 doses of AstraZeneca Vaccines from the COVAX Facility and placed vaccines orders as follows:

(i)

COVAX Facilty

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38,200 doses of AstraZeneca Vaccines by first week of August 2021

(ii)

Sinopharm

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500,000 doses delivery to be confirmed

(iv)

African Union

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1,134,975 doses of Johnson and Johnson Vaccines delivery to be confirmed

(v)

COVAX Facility

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165,600 doses Johnson and Johnson Vaccines and 330,350 doses of other vaccines to be confirmed

(vi)

African Union

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48,451 doses of Pfizer vaccines delivery to be confirmed

(vii)

COVAX Facility

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76,050 doses of Pfizer vaccines, delivery to be confirmed

With regards to the vaccination for children aged 12 to 17 years, Dr Jagutpal stated that as at now, these children can only be administered the Pfizer BioNTech Vaccines. A total of 124,501 doses of this vaccine is expected from the African Union and the COVAX Facility, he said. The Ministry of Health and Wellness has made a request to the World Health Organization (WHO) to approach the COVAX Facility with a view to considering the supply of 140,000 doses of Pfizer Vaccines in lieu of the allotment for other doses of vaccines, he pointed out.

Besides, Minister Jagutpal highlighted that through the Pharmacovigilance Committee, the following cases were reported: 1153 cases of Adverse Event Following Immunization (AEFI); 70 cases as serious by the treating doctor; 41 investigations were assessed by the Causality Committee; 29 cases are still being assessed by the Causality Committee; and four cases of Adverse Events were attributed to Covid-19 vaccine. However, he underlined that two cases of Guillain Barré Syndrome were reported by the treating doctor to the Pharmacovigilance Committee and one patient was administered Sinopharm vaccine and one patient administered the Covishield vaccine.

Concerning the number of genomic sequencing tests for each variant on local cases since April 2021, the Minister announced that 239 cases have been successfully sequenced. Of these, 209 were local cases and 30 were imported cases. He further clarified that all 209 local cases have lineage B.1.1.318. This lineage, he added, is neither a variant of concern nor a variant of interest according to the WHO and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention.

Among the 30 imported cases, he pointed out that no case of Alpha or Gamma variants have been reported and four cases of Beta and 18 cases of Delta variants have been reported while eight other variants have been detected. Of the 239 cases, 71 have been sequenced at the Central Health Laboratory and the others referred abroad, he concluded.

Copyright Government of Mauritius. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com)., source News Service English