Africa-Press – Mauritius. Mauritius received, a fourth donation of 51 840 doses of Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 vaccines from the United States of America (US). The donation ceremony was held, yesterday, at the Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport in presence of the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Jagutpal, the Ambassador of the US to Mauritius, Mr Henry Jardine, and other personalities.
The vaccine donation was made possible through close collaboration of the US Government, the Government of Mauritius and the COVAX Facility. In a statement, the Health Minister underlined that the Pfizer bivalent vaccines targets both the original version of COVID-19 as well as the BA.4 and BA.5 strains and subvariants of Omicron.
The bivalent Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines will be sufficient at neutralising XBB 1.5 and its lineages and prevent severe diseases and fatalities, he underpinned.
The Minister expressed his gratitude to the US Government for the donation. He further remarked that the effect of the vaccines administered since the outbreak of the COVID-19 is decreasing but that the virus is still present.
The Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 vaccines, will be reserved in the first place for persons suffering from comorbidities, cancer and dialysis patients and the elderly, he indicated.
Pregnant women are also recommended by the World Health Organization to get vaccinated and better protect themselves, he pointed out. The Minister urged vulnerable persons to get vaccinated with the Pfizer bivalent COVID-19 vaccines to protect themselves in case they are tested positive.
As regard pediatric COVID-19 vaccines, he underlined that Government is stepping efforts to acquire same in the nearest future. For his part, the US Ambassador stated that the vaccines donation is part of US Government’s global efforts to fight the COVID-19, as well as strengthen global recovery and readiness for future pandemic threats.
He observed that the fourth shipment of vaccines adds to the previously donated 387 270 Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines making it a total of 439 110, which he pointed out, is continued evidence of the strong bilateral relations between the two countries.
The US has donated more than 688 million COVID-19 vaccines to more than 117 countries around the world in partnership with COVAX, Caricom, and the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust.
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