Suriname is speeding up the pace of vaccine shelf life | Abroad

Since the start of the vaccination campaign, about three weeks ago, the counter on Sunday has been more than 5,400 people who have had a first vaccination. The injection rate was very slow in the first weeks. There was no rush as there were only a thousand doses available. This small amount has mainly been administered to primary care workers and other officials in critical positions. The ministerial team and the wife of President Chan Santokhi have also had their first injection. Santokhi himself and Vice President Ronnie Brunswijk have not yet had an injection because they recently had Covid-19.

The batch of 50,000 doses was an unannounced gift from the Indian government. Suriname is happy with the donation, but has unexpectedly had to increase the speed of injection sooner, says Sukul. A shipment of around 25,000 vaccines will also arrive at the end of March and the beginning of April. These are vaccines that Suriname has purchased through the international COVAX initiative.

To prevent more vaccines than can be processed at any given time, the authorities are now doing everything they can to encourage people to sign up for a shot. At the moment, almost 15,000 people have registered. They will be called up in the near future. People over 60 and people with underlying diseases are given priority.

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