The voluntary Covid Vaccination Program is being executed by the Ministry of Health (MINSA) and through the Local System of Comprehensive Health Care (SILAIS) which is the MINSA departmental representation.
MINSA has announced that the ultimate goal of the Nicaraguan plan is to vaccinate at least 60 to 70% of the population, a percentage recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the desired number to reach in order to offer protection to the country.
Subject to availability of the vaccine, the government of Nicaragua is currently vaccinating people over 60 years old with their first of two shots during the planned vaccination month of April.
In the link above, it refers to patients with cancer, heart disease, chronic diseases, people who will be previously summoned to go to the vaccination center (on the day that corresponds to them).
Schedule below is from the MINSA link above in blue text “currently vaccinating”… (CONOCE EL CALENDARIO DE VACUNACIÓN VOLUNTARIA CONTRA LA COVID-19 PARA LOS PRÓXIMOS DÍAS EN NICARAGUA)
The process involves taking the patients’ blood pressure and temperature, a brief discussion on health conditions. Then the recording of basic data in the MINSA database, the actual injection and a half an hour waiting/observation period before the recipient can leave. They will receive a certification card and an appointment date showing when they must return to receive their second shot (about 9 weeks after the first).
The Covid vaccination being used is the Covishield (Oxford/AstraZeneca) manufactured under license by the Serum Institute of India (SII). This was donated under two initiatives; a gift from India of 200,000 doses delivered on March 5th 2021 and a further 135,000 doses delivered under the COVAX Facility on the 14th of March 2021 for a total of 335,000 individual doses or enough for 167,500 recipients.
The COVAX Facility is a global initiative aimed at ensuring COVID-19 vaccines are available worldwide, especially to middle and low income countries.
It would appear that the 6,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccine donated by Russia were used to vaccinate hospitalized patients with chronic renal illnesses, followed by cancer and cardiac patients. Those patients have already received, or will be receiving their second dose which is required to be administered 21 days after the first one. The Sputnik V vaccine needs to be transported and stored at -20 degrees Centigrade or less, i.e. frozen.
The Covishield vaccination only needs to be stored at a temperature between +2 and +8 degrees Centigrade and is therefore more suited for transport around the country to the various departments. It can be stored in a cooler and placed in a regular fridge at the final location.
Studies show that Sputnik V and Covishield vaccines can be over 90% effective, providing both shots were received.
How are the problems in India affecting COVAX Deliveries?
As reported earlier in Nica-Biz, the supply of Covid-19 Vaccinations from the Serum Institute of India (SII) has been temporarily halted as India deals with a vaccine availability issue of their own amid an increase in cases linked to new variants
On April 12th, 2021, India reported 168,912 new COVID-19 cases, a record high for them. India currently has 13.5 million confirmed cases and is number two in the world after the USA.
After an initial run of 64 million doses had been sent out (28 million to COVAX) all exports were temporarily halted. COVAX was expecting another 40 million doses to be available in March and a further 50 million doses in April.
Nicaragua is one of many countries expecting more vaccines to be supplied through the COVAX Facility.
Last week, SII’s Chief Executive, Adar Poonawalla announced that India could resume Covid vaccination exports by June. However, the Indian Foreign Ministry confirmed that “domestic demand would determine how many doses they could export”.
The COVAX Facility uses donations from governments and private institutions to buy vaccines for poorer nations. They have obtained vaccines from AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech and the Serum Institute of India (SII). In addition, they are waiting for other companies to receive regulatory approvals. COVAX will only ship vaccines cleared by the WHO.
Nicaragua also has a Purchase Plan
Nicaragua also has access to US $100 million in credit from The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) for the acquisition of Covid vaccinations, the logistics of storage, distribution and delivery to the population. The government has confirmed that it’s been pursuing plans to acquire up to three different vaccines; Sputnik V, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield).
