Following the announcement on April 6 in the media of Haiti's refusal to accept a donation of 756,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) via the Covax mechanism, https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33423-haiti-flash-haiti-refuses-a-donation-of-756-000-doses-of-the-who-astrazeneca-vaccine.html Lauré Adrien the Director General of the Ministry of Health declared "This is false, Haiti has not rejected any vaccine" while admitting that the authorities were analyzing the best option to immunize the population, taking into account the peculiarities of Haiti.

However, Wednesday April 7, during the Council of Government, the Minister of Health, Greta Roy Clément, confirmed to the Ministers and to the Prime Minister Jouthe, to have written to the Gavi Alliance (global alliance for vaccines and immunization) in order to reject the WHO donation of AstraZeneca vaccines and ask them to replace this with another vaccine more suited to the country, mentioning that there are other vaccines citing the Janssen vaccine (Ad26.COV2.S) by Johnson & Johnson, or that of Moderna...

At the origin of this refusal, about ten cases of thrombosis (out of more than 20 million injections) which would be linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine but whose link with the vaccine has not been formally demonstrated.

It should be noted that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine favored by Haiti (a single injection and storage at temperatures that do not require a special freezer and also the most expensive of the vaccines) is not immune to adverse effects. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced on Friday the launch of an in-depth study on this vaccine produced by the American group after 4 suspected cases of thrombosis, including one fatal, in the United States (the vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson is designed on the same principle as the AstraZeneca serum).

Moderna is not immune to suspicion, as at least 23 serious cases report side effects after injection of the second dose.

But beyond these few rare serious cases of which it remains to prove the link with the vaccines in question, it should not be forgotten that the laboratories at the origin of its vaccines are being waged in the shadows "a merciless war" for a global market of several billion dollars where everything seems possible to eliminate a competitor.

See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-33423-haiti-flash-haiti-refuses-a-donation-of-756-000-doses-of-the-who-astrazeneca-vaccine.html

SL/ HaitiLibre