Haiti does not have a single vaccine to offer its more than 11 million people a year after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and experts fear that the well-being of Haitians is being sacrificed amid violence and violence. political instability that shake the country.
For now, Haiti can expect only 756,000 AstraZeneca vaccines distributed by a United Nations program that delivers doses to the most needy countries. These free doses were supposed to arrive in late May, but are expected to be delayed because Haiti did not meet a deadline and an Indian producer is giving priority to domestic demand.
“Haiti recently completed the documentation required for the shipments,” said Gavi, the Geneva-based Vaccine Alliance, which partly administers the UN program, called COVAX.
Haiti also did not sign up for a pilot program that distributed vaccines, according to the Pan American Health Organization. A spokeswoman, however, praised other efforts by Haitians related to the pandemic, such as an improvement in hospital readiness.
A human rights state research center quoted by a U.S. State Department report, meanwhile, said the Haitian government embezzled more than $ 1 million in aid to fight the coronavirus. The report also accused government officials of spending $ 34 million “in the most murky way,” ignoring a body that has to approve state contracts.
Laure Adrien, director general of the Haitian Ministry of Health, attributed the delay in the arrival of vaccines to suspicions surrounding the AstraZeneca vaccine and the fear that the country does not have the necessary infrastructure to store the vaccines. vaccines. He added that his dependency prefers a single-dose vaccine. AstraZeneca requires two.
“It’s no secret that we don’t have a good capacity to store” vaccines, he expressed. “We want to make sure we have everything under control before we get the vaccines.”
Adrien argued that the money his dependency received was well spent, but that he was not accountable to other government agencies. A spokesman for the presidency did not respond to calls to discuss the issue.
Poor nations have to wait a long time for COVAX vaccines as rich countries monopolize stocks. Most, however, received at least an initial charge. Some vaccines are procured through donations or private agreements.
Haiti reports 12,700 infections and 250 deaths, figures experts believe are far from reality.
While the use of white faces is still mandatory in companies, airport closures and curfews have been suspended for some time, and there are not many additional precautions.
“People don’t really believe in the coronavirus,” said 26-year-old Esther Racine, who has two children whose father died in the catastrophic 2010 earthquake.
Racine once worked as a maid, but began selling mouthpieces at the beginning of the pandemic. He went on to sell 800 white faces a month and now barely sells 200.
“Look around you,” he commented, pointing to a crowd of people without caps in downtown Port-au-Prince. Its only customers today are people who need mouthpieces to get into a store.
He says Haitians have other concerns. “People are more concerned about violence than the virus,” he said.
Demonstrations of protest and an increase in kidnappings and massacres perpetrated by gangs make many wonder how it will be done to vaccinate people given the instability and fear of leaving the house.
There are also those who are afraid of vaccination despite educational campaigns. On the other hand, some officials expressed concern about the AstraZeneca vaccine, which is being questioned in Europe because some people who received it suffered blood clots.
“We can’t get the vaccine and then find out they expire because no one wants to get vaccinated,” Adrien argued.
Among those who say they do not plan to vaccinate is Dorcelus Perkin, owner of a brick factory. One recent morning this 60-year-old man supervised more than a dozen employees working outdoors. No one had personal protective equipment.
“We can’t wear mouthpieces under the sun. You’d suffocate,” he said. Delimit that the sun kills the virus, something scientists have not verified.
Perkin attributes his good health to drinking green tea with salt every day. “I believe more in these remedies than in vaccines. I don’t know what’s inside vaccines.”
International organizations are behind most of the resources and educational campaigns related to COVID-19 in Haiti. The Pan American Health Organization provided the government with 500 test kits, along with instructions on laboratory diagnoses and virus detection. He also provided thermometers, personal protective equipment and other inputs, including megaphones and batteries for workers going to rural areas.
PAHO also trained 2,800 workers in the Haitian health field and held meetings with community leaders, including voodoo priests and traditional midwives to share information on preventive measures and treatment centers.
In May 2020, the organization’s director said she was deeply concerned about the effects of a potential large-scale outbreak given the fragility of Haiti’s health services and the fact that many people live in homes. crowded and has no access to clean water.
Several experts, however, say they are perplexed that the dreaded outbreak did not occur.
“It’s amazing for a lot,” said Aline Serin, director of a mission for the aid organization Doctors Without Borders. “At the moment, there is not enough research or documentation to explain why some countries are less affected by severe cases of COVID-19.”
It is unclear when the first COVAX vaccines will arrive.
Haiti is one of 92 low-income nations waiting for these vaccines. It is also one of the countries affected by last week’s announcement that the March and April deliveries of orders made by the program to the Serum Institute of India – the world’s largest vaccine producer – were suspended. – amid an increase in infections in India.
When doses are available, experts predict that it will be difficult to get them into the arms of Haitians.
He will first have to convince people like Duperval Germain, a 55-year-old carpenter who says neither he nor his children will be vaccinated. He is afraid of getting sick if he is vaccinated and not receiving proper treatment.
“All these heads of state we’ve had, if they get sick, they leave here,” he expressed. “If I get sick, where do I go? Let their vaccines be stored. Let them use them where they need them. Haiti doesn’t need vaccines.”
Vedat reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Associated Press reporter Jamey Keaten collaborated from Geneva.