TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Dutch providing Corona vaccine to Sint Maarten

Daily Herald story

Sounds like the Dutch side might get the vaccine very soon???

That is great. Wonder which one they'll get with such warm temps on the island and how to keep one at -94F.

I don't know whether the hospital would have a super cold freezer or not. The Moderna vaccine does not have to be kept that cold.

That is what I was thinking but it all depend on what vaccine they contracted for.

January starting with the elderly...

https://www.curacaochronicle.com/post/local/aim-is-to-start-vaccination-simultaneously-in-kingdom/

That is great!
I'm happy for sxm.

We are very disappointed that they have raised the age to 75 and above here.
There are a lot of people in this country, getting it before they should.

like all the NBA players. No reason for that.

Most of the production for Pfizer's COVID-19 is manufactured at their facility in Puurs, Belgium (essentially next door to the Netherlands). Shipping it at extreme cold temps to the islands which make up the Kingdom of the Nertherlands should be very achievable so my guess is that it will be the Pfizer vaccine arriving in SXM. I would hope that the St. Maarten Medical Center near Philipsburg would have freezer capabilities that could store the vaccine at negative 70 celsius. Storing vaccines at extremely cold temperatures in actually nothing new (though -70 celsius has to be a some kind of record!). Other vaccines such as those for Chicken Pox and Measles, Mumps & Rubella are stored at temperatures as low as -50 celsius before they are warmed up to room temperature and administered. I would think those common vaccines have been stored and given on St. Maarten in the past without incident.

I know Pfizer is manufacturing the vaccine in multiple locations, including several in the US as a big deal was made locally of it shipping out of Michigan.

From The Boston Business Journal:

"A Pfizer manufacturing site in Andover will be among locations to produce the vaccine, along with sites in Saint Louis, Missouri, Kalamazoo, Michigan, Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, and Puurs, Belgium, according to a statement from Pfizer."

The article said it would be shipped with containers appropriate for storage of the vaccine under the temperature required

Yes, I saw a couple of news stories showing trucks leaving a Pfizer plant here in the US, not sure which plant, but definitely here in the US.

I wonder what is happening with vaccines for the French side though? Getting it for the Dutch side is of limited utility if the French side doesn't get it also.

Good point, Carol. Because my youngest son's girlfriend is Dutch, she's been filling us in on how bad COVID-19 is presently in the Netherlands. So, it's not surprising that the Dutch are moving fast with their vaccination efforts, and thankfully that includes their islands and possessions. As for France, I suppose only time will tell what their plan(s) will be. I suppose they have an even greater task at hand because their territories are on a greater global scale and just not the tropical western Atlantic. They'll need to figure out vaccination plans for not only French St. Martin, St. Barth's, Martinique, etc., but also such distant places as French Polynesia and New Caledonia. Should be interesting to see how they handle this.

I agree it should be a joint campaign with both sides of the island vaccinating their people. A quick search shows that poorer Caribbean islands will get the jab first through COVAX/ PAHO. The distribution to other islands have been funded and in place months ago. The French are actually not so in favor of getting the jab and Pres. Macron has recovered from COVID-19.

I hope other airlines don’t use this promotion... Jab n Go
https://www.rt.com/news/510650-ryanair-promote-summer-flights/

Update from the Daily Herald today.
LINK