Kingstown, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, 18 August 2025 (PAHO) – A PAHO team embarked on a five-day mission to St. Vincent & the Grenadines to prepare the islands for the introduction of two new vaccines.
The Ministry of Health, Wellness and the Environment will be introducing Pneumococcal Vaccines and Rotavirus Vaccines, with the financial support of GAVI, and technical support of PAHO and UNICEF. Therefore, from August 11th to 15th, the PAHO team conducted a readiness assessment and cold chain inventory at all heath centres for the five days.
In preparation for the introduction of these new vaccines into the current programme, the cold chain operations were assessed, the readiness of the National Immunization Programme was determined, and the needs were noted, and the technical capacity of the health team to effectively deliver the new vaccines was evaluated. On the job training was conducted at the health centres for practical application of the knowledge shared with the health team.
Pneumococcal Vaccines have been used to prevent pneumococcal disease for more than 30 years and protect against such diseases as pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis; while the Rotavirus Vaccine safeguards babies and infants from rotavirus infections which cause severe diarrhea and vomiting and death in immunocompromised infants.
Introducing the new vaccines into the immunization programme is a strategy to reduce the incidence of these diseases, along with the utilisation of other ongoing public health measures. As part of the readiness assessment and review of the country’s surveillance system for vaccine preventable diseases, the team also conducted a search for cases of Acute Flaccid Paralysis (AFP) and Rash and Fever (R&F). AFP is a serious condition characterised by rapid muscle weakness and paralysis.
There was also a review of vaccine registers and defaulter tracking forms, vaccine coverage charts and child health patient notes, and the cold chain management at health centres.
PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean Countries (ECC), Dr. Amalia Del Riego, reaffirmed PAHO’s commitment to protecting the region from vaccine preventable diseases. “PAHO is pleased to collaborate with our Member Countries to provide them with the support they need to strengthen and maintain strong immunization programmes. The Pneumococcal and Rotavirus vaccines have been procured through the PAHO revolving funds with the financial support of GAVI; and this partnership has been crucial to sustaining efforts to reduce infants' mortality and morbidity in the region.”
