But the shelf life of the Pfizer vaccines shouldn't become an issue.
That's because the Ministry of Health has a very specific plan for the rollout of these targeted doses.
This morning he stressed the importance of vaccinating adolescents and told us why Cabinet rolled back the start date for school when it did.
Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health & Wellness
"The decision came when we were finally able to get an arrival date for the vaccine. Once we had that, we immediately engaged the Ministry of Education to push back the start date to the face-to-face. This Pfizer vaccine gives us an opportunity to protect our kids between 12 to 18 years old, and what we are trying to do is give all of our children the best possible opportunity. We all know that our kids have been out of school for the past year. It has affected them personally, socially, psychologically and so for us it is important to get them back into school and this Pfizer vaccine will help us to get them back in the safest possible way."
"We cannot impose the vaccine, we've not imposed the vaccine on anyone and if as an adult you're super careful with your children, you're going to be even more careful and at the Ministry of Health and Wellness we are fully aware of this, we are making all of our doctors available to answer the questions that parents may have. We are working with the principals to try to share as much information as we can so that parents can make an informed decision for their children."
"We are expecting that as of Monday it will become available to all of our children 12 and above."
Reporter
"Sir, my colleague raised this, but there is a perception in Belize that Pfizer is the better vaccine. How is your ministry going to go about curtailing efforts by Belizeans to try and get this vaccine for themselves as adults?"
Hon. Michel Chebat, Minister of Health & Wellness
"You know there is always this perception, but I'll tell you that the AstraZeneca vaccine has worked wonderfully. It has had incredible results. I do understand there are people who are waiting for this vaccine, there are people who believe because they may have some type of allergies and so on that this may be the better vaccine. In the initial phase until we received the second tranche we are going to try as best as possible to reserve this tranche so that our children can get back into school."
The distribution of the Pfizer vaccine begins on Monday - and the Central Health region has already sent out consent forms for schools to distribute to parents.
