The objective of Government is to vaccinate at least 60% of the population so as to achieve ‘herd immunity’ and in that context, much efforts are being deployed to bring vaccines from different countries so that a maximum number of people can be immunised.
The Attorney-General and Minister of Agro-Industry and Food Security, Mr Maneesh Gobin, was speaking at the daily press briefing of the National Communication Committee held at the Treasury Building in Port Louis.
As regards the Consent Form which has to be signed before getting the vaccine shot, the Attorney-General reassured that it is being done in a spirit of transparency adding that the benefits of the vaccine outweigh the risks.
Recalling that the first COVID-19 cases were detected more than a year ago, he pointed out that no laboratory has ever developed a vaccine in such a short period of time, where normally at least five years are required to produce a vaccine.
The vaccine, he underlined, has been approved by emergency use in Mauritius and by the WHO.
On the legal front, he underscored that the United Kingdom has last year passed the Vaccine Damage Payments Scheme while the USA is giving immunity to manufacturing companies.
Vaccination campaign
The Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Kailesh Jagutpal, reiterated the need to conduct a vaccination campaign on a large scale adding that several vaccines will be used during the campaign.
He announced that Mauritius will receive, on 19 March 2021, a first consignment of 200 000 doses of Covaxin from the Government of India.
Speaking about the Covaxin, he highlighted that the Vaccination Committee has already approved the vaccine produced by Bharat Biotech in India and which has more than 80% efficacy rate and stated that millions of people have already used the Covaxin vaccine without any secondary effects.
He recalled that presently, frontliners and Work Access Permit holders are being vaccinated adding that the vaccination campaign will soon be opened to the public.
Dr Catherine Gaud indicated that all COVID-19 patients are stable.
As regards the AstraZeneca vaccine, she pointed out that it is more than 94% effective against the coronavirus, adding that some 17 million people in the world have received the AstraZeneca vaccine and only 15 cases of blood clots and 22 cases of pulmonary embolism have been detected.
Latest figures on COVID-19 situation in Mauritius
• As at date, a total of 156 positive local cases have been detected
• Three new cases detected today, two from the Curepipe cluster and one from the Malherbes cluster
• Some 368 PCR tests have been conducted today
• Random tests are being conducted across the country and till date, all have been negative
Source: Government Information Service
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