As the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine rollout continues in San Pedro Town, Harris Gabourel was the first island police officer to be vaccinated on Thursday, March 4th at the Dr. Otto Rodriguez San Pedro Polyclinic II.
The vaccine will be distributed in phases, targeting healthcare workers, persons 60 years and older, persons with special conditions, such as HIV and cancer. Although police will start getting the vaccine until the last part of phase 1, Police Constable Gabourel was administered the injection as he works closely with healthcare personnel on the island. According to his boss, Commander of Region Four within the Belize District, Superintendent Christopher Noble, Gabourel works with the medical team and is qualified to be vaccinated.
The vaccination continues in public and private health centers on the island until Friday, March 5th. The recipients are required to take a second dose around May of this year.
A shipment of 25,000 doses of the vaccine is scheduled to arrive via India’s donation on Saturday, March 6th. Later this month, 100,800 of 238,000 pre-paid doses from the World Health Organization’s COVAX facility is expected to arrive in Belize. The plan is to immunize all those over the age of 18, which makes up about 68% of Belize’s population.
