GUYANA does not have prior experience working with vaccines stored in ultra-cold storage and, ahead of the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, expected early next year, the Health Ministry is seeking this necessary expertise.

While providing his daily COVID-19 update, Minister of Health, Dr. Frank Anthony, related that Guyana has applied for a grant from the COVAX facility to secure the technical expertise needed to work with the ultra-cold chain storage in which the COVID-19 vaccines should be stored.

The COVAX facility is a global initiative geared at accelerating the development and manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines, and then providing them in a guaranteed rapid, fair and equitable manner to those countries which need them.

“We have not had such vaccines in Guyana where you require these types of temperatures (and) it is important that we get some expertise in this area and we work with people who understand how to utlise this ultra-cold chain,” the minister said.

He said the country is expecting a favourable response and explained that if the vaccines are not stored in the appropriate temperatures, they could spoil and therefore be wasted.

The U.S. drug company, Moderna, had announced that its vaccine, the mRNA-1273 from Biotech, could be stored in a standard refrigerator with temperatures of two to eight degrees Celsius (36 degrees to 46 degrees Fahrenheit) for 30 days. The rollout of this vaccine began only on Monday, in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the other vaccine that is already being distributed, the Pfizer vaccine, however, must be stored at very cold temperatures of minus 70 to 80 degrees. Measures are being put in place to ensure that the country’s cold-storage chain could accommodate either.

Ahead of the vaccination rollout, the minister also said that medical professionals will be trained early in the New Year. A large part of Guyana’s vaccination programme involves dealing with babies and children, but this COVID-19 vaccine is one which will be administered to adults.

And this, Dr. Anthony explained, would require training on various components including who to register them, inform them of possible side-effects and what they should expect, in addition to getting their consent and actually administering the vaccine. Depending on which vaccine is acquired and used by Guyana, medical professionals would also need to do follow-up vaccinations — administering the second dose.