Marshall Islands officials will meet with United States government officials in early December to discuss logistical issues with getting Covid-19 vaccines into the Marshall Islands.
The U.S. is working with the Marshall Islands government, as well as governments of the freely associated states of Palau and the Federated States of Micronesia, to ensure early access to the vaccine, Marshall Islands Health Secretary Jack Niedenthal said Thursday.
Authorities at Majuro hospital (pictured) are working with the U.S. government to gain early access to new Covid-19 vaccines expected to go into production shortly. Marshall Islands Journal photo
“There is no date yet (for when vaccines will be available) but it is around the corner,” Niedenthal said, adding that vaccines could be here as early as January. This follows news issued by the U.S. pharmaceutical company Pfizer on November 18 that its vaccine is 95 percent effective in preventing Covid-19, and the announcement two days later from the U.S. company Moderna that its vaccine is 94.5% effective in early trials. It takes two shots, spaced three weeks apart, for the Covid vaccine to be effective.
But the cold chain requirements of the two vaccines — Pfizer’s requires sub-zero temperatures that the Marshall Islands cannot provide — has the country focused on obtaining Moderna’s version.
Niedenthal said the number of vaccines in the first batch are not yet firm, but that it is likely to be 1,000 each initially for the two urban centers of Majuro and Ebeye. “The priority will be health workers and front-liners, and vulnerable older people,” he said. “Then we’ll work down the list from there.”
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Marshall Islands authorities, led by Chief Secretary Kino Kabua, have been holding discussions about vaccine access over recent weeks. The Marshall Islands was required to submit its vaccine plan to the U.S. government by October 1 to be eligible for receiving early vaccines. “We turned in our plan for vaccines before there was a vaccine,” said Niedenthal.
He explained that the Moderna vaccine is “less complicated and more flexible logistically” than Pfizer’s from the standpoint of the Marshall Islands.
The U.S. government will be funding the first round of vaccines and possibly more. “The U.S. government has treated us really well during the Covid crisis,” Niedenthal said.
