Haiti has no more than 11 million people a vaccine more than a year after the pandemic began, and it is causing concern among health experts that the well-being of Haitians is being set aside as violence and political instability deepen across the country.
So far, Haiti will receive only 756,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through a United Nations program aimed at ensuring that the most needy countries receive Covid-19 shots. The free doses would arrive in May at the latest, but delays are expected because Haiti has missed a deadline and the main Indian manufacturer is now prioritizing an increase in domestic demand.
“Haiti has recently completed some of the essential documentation that are prerequisites for processing a delivery order,” said Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, a public-private partnership in Geneva that runs the UN-backed Covax effort.
According to the Pan-American Health Organization, the country also did not apply for a pilot program in which it would receive some of the allotted doses earlier. However, a spokesman praised their other pandemic efforts, including preparing hospitals.
Meanwhile, a human rights research center quoted in a new U.S. State Department report found that the Haitian government had misused more than $ 1 million in coronavirus assistance. The report also accuses government officials of spending $ 34 million in the “greatest opacity”, bypassing an agency charged with approving government contracts.
Lauré Adrien, chief director of the Ministry of Health in Haiti, blames the delay in vaccinating the investigation into the AstraZeneca shots and is concerned that the country does not have the necessary infrastructure to ensure proper storage of vaccines. , adding that his agency prefers a single dose of vaccine. AstraZeneca requires two doses.
“It’s no secret that we do not have excellent conservation facilities,” he said. “We wanted to make sure we had all the parameters under control before we received vaccine supplies.”
Adrien also noted that all the money his agency received was properly spent, but said he could not speak for other agencies. A spokesman for the president did not respond to calls for comment.
Many poorer countries have waited a long time to get Covax vaccines, as richer countries collect their supplies, although most have received at least an initial shipment. Some took matters into their own hands and obtained shots through donations and private transactions.
The lack of vaccines in Haiti comes as more than 12,700 cases and 250 deaths are reported, which experts say is underreported.
Ongoing protests and an increase in kidnappings and gang-related killings, some wonder how any vaccine will be administered, given the lack of stability coupled with a growing number of people afraid to leave their homes.
Perceptions also remain a major challenge.
While face masks remain mandatory at Haiti businesses, airport closures and curfew rules have long been lifted, and other precautions are scarce.
“People do not really believe in the coronavirus,” said Esther Racine, a 26-year-old mother of two sons whose father died in the 2010 earthquake.
Racine used to work as a maid, but started selling face masks at the beginning of the pandemic, which made a quick business with about 800 sales per month. Now she sells barely 200.
“Look around,” she said, waving to a maskless crowd roaming downtown Port-au-Prince. The only customers these days are those who need a mask to enter a nearby grocery store, she said, adding that Haitians have other problems at heart: “People are more worried about violence than the virus.”