Opposition Leader Mark Golding is calling for the Auditor General to probe reports of breaches in the COVID-19 vaccination rollout programme.

Golding made the call Monday amid concerns over the administering of leftover AstraZeneca vaccines to persons who are not registered for inoculation at this time.

“These breaches violate the principles of efficiency, equity and transparency on which the government had promised that the vaccination programme would be based. They also undermine the Government’s stated objectives of, ‘protecting the integrity of the healthcare system and infrastructure for the continuity of essential services, and reducing severe morbidity and mortality associated with COVID-19’,” said Golding in a statement to the media.

He called for the Auditor General to conduct an audit to ascertain if satisfactory procedures have been established by the Government, and to examine the records as to those who have received the vaccine, in order to indicate the nature and extent of the procedural breaches.

The Opposition Leader also repeated the call for the Government to take a collaborative approach to tackling the COVID-19 Pandemic and the implementation of the National COVID-19 Vaccine Development Plan.

Late on Friday, media reports surfaced that there were purported breaches of the ministry’s vaccination protocols at several health facilities, including the National Chest Hospital in St Andrew.

This resulted in some persons who were not in the priority groups to be vaccinated at this time being inoculated, sending social media into a frenzy as persons questioned the reason or reasons behind the breakdown of protocols.

Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton in an interview admitted that a lapse led to persons who were not registered receiving the COVID-19 vaccines. The persons were given the leftover vaccines from vials that were already open, the minister indicated.

However, he did not provide the total number of persons who were vaccinated as a result of this lapse. Additionally, no information was provided on the groups to which these individuals belonged.

Prime Minister Andrew Holness had assured last week that the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines would be free of corruption or bribery.

“Regardless of who you are in the society, once the rule is set, you will abide by the rules,” Holness stated, adding that “I’m committed that the distribution of the vaccines does not fall in this category of nationally important goods to be distributed, where people break the lines (and) because of connections, they get.”