(CMR) The government issued a statement late Friday reminding people of the protocols in place before it can approve vaccines for younger children as well as use of the viral pill recently approved in the UK.
The Chief Medical Officer stated that Cayman Islands Government is committed to ensuring the availability of COVID-19 vaccinations for children between the ages of five and 12 years old.
However, the vaccination program is overseen by the UK government, which has donated and transported both the Pfizer-BioNTech and AstraZeneca vaccines for use in the Cayman Islands.
As such, the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines in this age group must first be approved by the Medicines Healthcare products and Regulatory Agency of the UK. Following this, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office would need to send the special paediatric formulations to our Islands.
Government is working closely with the Governor's Office towards this end.
Meantime, a statement from the Governor's Office said Governor Roper welcomed news of the approval of molnupiravir in the UK. This is an anti-viral tablet stored at room temperature that can be used to reduce serious illness in COVID-19 patients, if deployed early in the course of the infection.
“We are working with the Cayman Islands Ministry of Health, the UK Health Security Agency, FCDO and the UK's Department for Health and Social Care to confirm when the medication might be made available to the Overseas Territories,” the statement said.
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