MAJURO — The United States government is recognizing the Marshall Islands for its aggressive Covid-19 vaccine delivery by increasing the number of vaccines it is sending to this western Pacific nation.
For the past two weeks, U.S. Centers for Disease Control has showed the Marshall Islands has the highest delivery rate of all U.S.-affiliated islands in the region.
The Ministry of Health and Human Services delivered its highest number of Covid vaccines this past Friday, mostly through its house-to-house outreach. The CDC said the Marshall Islands had vaccinated 91% of its 60-and-over population, and 64% of people 50 and up. The next closest was Palau with 80 and 52%, respectively.
The Marshall Islands was expecting at least the 7,400 doses again in March, the same number as it received in both January and February. But this was initially increased to 11,200 last week. Then in response to a request from the Ministry of Health to get vaccines here more quickly to feed the outreach program, U.S. Gen. Gustave Perna, the head of Covid vaccine operation in the U.S., not only agreed to an early delivery, he increased the volume to 12,800 does.
They were scheduled to arrive mid-March, but now are expected next week, two weeks earlier — despite the weather disruptions on vaccine production that a massive storm in the U.S. has caused.
“The increased number reflects our fast rollout,” said Health Secretary Jack Niedenthal Friday. Public Health teams started three weeks ago going from house-to-house beginning from one end of the atoll and are now at the opposite end, having covered most of the over-50 population.
The ministry has administered more first doses than it has in stock to complete the second shot for all those who have received their first vaccination, he acknowledged. But the ministry is closely tracking the numbers and now with 12,800 more doses arriving in a few days, the ministry can keep up its outreach campaign, he said.
“Our public health team wanted to keep up the momentum,” he said. “With more vaccines coming, we’re okay.”
A total of 694 people received vaccines Friday, reported the ministry. This included 386 first doses and even more significantly, 308 getting their second and final dose of the vaccine.
As of Monday this past week, the ministry had given out 12,948 vaccines, a combination of both the first and second doses. A total of 9,867 Majuro residents have received the Moderna vaccine, with 7,764 receiving their first dose 7,764 and 2,103 getting the required second shot that follows 28 days later. For Ebeye, the other urban center in the Marshall Islands, 2,670 have received shots, with 1,690 getting their first dose 1,690 and 980 completing both rounds.
“We’ve been doing really well,” Niedenthal said. In the Marshall Islands, there has been a very positive attitude toward getting the Covid shots, he said. And, for a country not noted for time consciousness, Niedenthal said he has been nicely surprised that people seem totally aware of the date for their second shot and are making sure they don’t miss the date.
“Of 255 people scheduled to receive their second dose at the MCH clinic (at Majuro hospital) last Thursday, 250 showed up,” he said, adding this is a demonstration of the strong interest of local residents to get vaccinated to prevent Covid.
“After my two doses, I thought ‘alright, I’m good,’” he said, adding he sees a similar feeling apparent among island residents who are keen to complete the vaccination process.
An aggressive Covid-19 prevention program in the Marshall Islands has seen Public Health nurses going house-to-house in Majuro to vaccinate local residents for Covid-19. Over 90$ of residents 60-and-over are now vaccinated.
Marshall Islands Journal photo
