Government, with a view to ramp up efforts to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, has acquired 108 000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. The shipment of vaccines was receptioned today by the Minister of Land Transport and Light Rail, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and International Trade, Mr Alan Ganoo, and the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Jagutpal, at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport.
In a statement, Minister Ganoo expressed satisfaction with regard to the delivery of the vaccines while highlighting that it is an initiative of the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust launched by the African Union to ensure widespread access to COVID-19 vaccines across Africa.
He indicated that the vaccination programme put in place by the Government is being implemented smoothly across the country and urged the population to get vaccinated so as to control the pandemic. Mauritius will receive more vaccines in the future, he added
For his part, Dr Jagutpal recalled that more than 56% of the population have already received their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and 49% have received their second dose adding that the vaccination campaign remains ongoing.
He pointed that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a single dose vaccine, stored at -15 to -25 degrees and will be put at the disposal of the population. Once removed, it can be kept at 2 to 8 degrees for a period of three months and thus can be easily transported to vaccination centres around the country, Dr Jagutpal said.
