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Ministry of Health to receive replacement batch of HINI vaccines

May 25, 2010 News

A request has been made to the World Health Organisation (WHO) to replace a batch of HINI vaccines to the local Ministry of Health. This move comes on the heels of allegations that 100,000 doses of the vaccine which arrived in the country last week had spoiled due to the negligence of workers within the health sector.
This newspaper had brought the allegation to the attention of Minister of Health, Dr Leslie Ramsammy, on Sunday, who had returned to Guyana the previous day having attended the World Health Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Minister had assured that an investigation into the matter would have commenced forthwith as he was not informed by his officers that any vaccine had spoiled.
However, following his investigation yesterday, the Minister was able to deduce that the vaccines had not spoiled but rather, the potency of the batch has been compromised. This development the Minister noted is based on the fact that the temperature of the vaccine package was found to be inconsistent with the recommended temperature on arrival. Additionally, he revealed that the vaccines, once they had arrived at the Ministry of Health’s Kingston bond they were placed immediately in a freezer, a move which is not recommended.
The batch which represented a second batch of the vaccines donated by the World Health Organisation arrived in the country last week. The batch consisted of 100,000 doses of vaccines.
“Like the first batch of vaccines presently being used, the vaccines were provided by the WHO at no cost to the Ministry of Health. The first batch amounted to a value about $70M and the second batch amounted to a value of about $40M.”
According to the Minister, on arrival of the second batch of donated vaccines, officials from the Ministry of Health had promptly uplifted them. The vaccines were brought to the Kingston Vaccine Bond and stored in the bond without delay, he asserted.
However, there were two problems that were encountered, that is the inconsistency of the temperature and the fact that they were immediately refrigerated, thus the Ministry has had cause, out of an abundance of caution, to ask the WHO to replace the vaccines with a fresh shipment, the Minister noted.
He further disclosed that while neither of the conditions means that the vaccines are spoilt, both could reduce their potency. “The Ministry of Health does not take risks with our vaccine supplies and, therefore, decided to request the WHO to replace the batch.”
Arrangements are currently in train to replace the batch immediately, he added.
According to the Minister, he has been able to negotiate with the WHO to donate the HINI vaccines to Guyana. So far some 300,000 doses have been assured of which 200,000 have already arrived. Another 100,000, he said, will be sent as the need arises.

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