London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

Health personnel, Minister Malone among first to get COVID-19 vaccine

Health personnel, Minister Malone among first to get COVID-19 vaccine

VI- Premier and Minister of Finance Honourable Andrew A. Fahie has revealed that the Minister for Health and Social Development Honourable Carvin Malone (AL) will be among the first recipients of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in the Virgin Islands [British].

Premier Fahie was asked by the host of the Honestly Speaking Radio show, Mr Claude O. Skelton-Cline, on Tuesday, January 12, 2021, whether he (Premier) and his government would be the first in line to take the vaccine "as a demonstration to the people of these Virgin Islands given some of the fears" surrounding the vaccine.

In response, Premier Fahie said, "we have a team in place to roll out the vaccine. We know that, of course, the Minister of Health [Hon. Carvin Malone] will be one of the first ones in the tier of persons that would take the vaccine but we also have to look and see which sectors – it's not mandatory – but which sectors would be the first set to be rolled out."


Premier and Minister of Finance Honourable Andrew A. Fahie has said the COVID-19 vaccines from the UK is expected in the Virgin Islands no later than February 15, 2021.

Front line workers


He continued: "Of course we have not concluded this, but in my own mind, the health team should be right up there in number one; they are on the actual frontline of COVID-19. Other than that we are looking at our law enforcement and our educators and the other sections that we would see fit for this first set with the couple thousands that we would be afforded. Because it's going to be, everyone is going to say who should be first and everyone is going to give a justification but more important for us is not more than any other are more than any other in terms of importance but at this stage, if you look at it in terms of the level of persons in terms of the frontline persons who would have to take it, it would have to be our health team first."

Notably, Premier Fahie did not indicate whether he and the rest of his administration would be taking the vaccine anytime soon.

He further informed that the territory had secured roughly 8,000 vaccine doses as a donation from the United Kingdom and their scheduled date of arrival would be no later than February 15, 2021.

The Governor's Office in a press release on January 12, 2021, said the VI will be receiving the vaccine developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca, which was given regulatory approval by the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency on December 30, 2020, after a rigorous, detailed scientific review by medical experts.

It said the vaccine has already been rolled out to thousands of individuals across the UK and is favoured for its more simple storage requirements compared to other vaccines.

AstraZeneca vaccine concerns


The UK now has three different COVID-19 vaccines in use to fight the pandemic; however, the vaccine by AstraZeneca is considered the less potent and according to Business Insider on January 8, 2021, there is a reason why AstraZeneca's two-shot vaccine is still missing from the US vaccine arsenal.

The vaccine was developed in partnership with the University of Oxford and was authorised for use across the UK since December 30, 2020, and it's also been cleared to go into arms in India, Mexico, Argentina, and several more countries.

The FDA; however, is waiting for AstraZeneca to submit its vaccine paperwork, which may not be ready until the spring.

That data, according to Business Insider, came from a vaccine research trial which included more than 5,800 volunteers around the UK, South Africa, and Brazil.

"The results suggested that AstraZeneca's vaccine was 62% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 infections when taken as two full-strength shots. That's a much lower potency than both Pfizer and Moderna's shots, which were each more than 90% effective in trials."

'Big mistake' in trials


Business Insider also reported that the AstraZeneca trial included at least one big mistake. A subset of trial participants under 55 years old was accidentally administered a half-dose first shot, followed by a full-strength second jab.

"That's a pretty serious error," Dr Cody Meissner, chief of pediatric infectious disease at Tufts Medical Center, and one of the vaccine experts on the FDA's advisory committee told Insider.

It said those patients who had a less potent initial shot, followed by a full-strength booster actually appeared more protected from coronavirus infections, with efficacy surging to 90% in the subgroup. Experts were puzzled by that.

FDA says 'not so fast' to AstraZeneca vaccine


According to Business Insider, the FDA; however, hasn't been offered that data to review for an emergency use authorisation (EUA), which would be required for Americans to start getting vaccinated with the shot.

"Instead, AstraZeneca is going to wait for the results of a larger, US-based trial, where no half-doses are planned," Insider stated.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×