Haiti and the Vaccine--June 24, 2021

Photo by John Carroll

Washington Post

June 24, 2021

Haiti was slated to receive some 756,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine last month as part of the U.N.’s COVAX program, but government officials were concerned about the vaccine’s potential side effects and of possibly being forced to throw away doses given the lack of infrastructure to keep them properly refrigerated.

Officials later announced that some 130,000 doses were supposed to arrive in mid-June, but the shipment was delayed for unknown reasons.

Even if the doses do arrive, officials worry they still have to persuade thousands of Haitians to get inoculated amid widespread mistrust of the vaccines and of health authorities.

During Thursday’s meeting, Ronald Jean-Jacques, a professor at Haiti’s State University, shared a survey in which he interviewed more than 5,300 Haitians. More than 60% said they would not take the vaccine, while an additional 10% said they had not even heard of a coronavirus vaccine, highlighting warnings by international agencies that stronger and more widespread educational campaigns are needed.

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John A. Carroll, MD

www.haitianhearts.org