The Serum Institute of India (SII) – the makers of the CoviShield or AstraZeneca vaccine – says it will prioritize getting vaccines to the COVAX facility, even as it faces great demand.
The COVAX Facility has already notified participating economies which include Antigua and Barbuda that deliveries of doses from the Institute will be delayed in March and April.
Delays in securing supplies of these doses are due to the increased demand for COVID-19 vaccines in India.
Separately, the World Health Organization says that participating economies in the COVAX Facility that have been allocated doses from the AstraZeneca manufacturing network have been notified that some first deliveries anticipated in March will now take place in April.
To date, Jamaica has been the only CARICOM country to receive COVAX supplies.
The AstraZeneca vaccine from COVAX is also in transit to Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago, Bahamas and Belize.
No date of receipt has been given to Antigua and Barbuda.
To date, COVAX has been supplied with 28 million COVISHIELD doses and was expecting an additional 40 million doses to be available in March, and up to 50 million doses in April.