BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - BARBADOS and Dominica last evening (Feb. 9) received their first shipment of vaccines from the Government and people of India and are expected to share some of those doses with member states of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, with Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago also assisting.
The vaccines, which were delivered by the Regional Security System (RSS) totalling more than 100,000, were part of an agreement the two territories made with India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In her announcement of the arrival of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine, Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley explained that the island received nine boxes of 100,000 vaccines for 50,000 people on the island.
That first tranche is part of a 200,000 dosage that the government expects to receive from India to inoculate the people to go along with those expected from the COVAX facility.
She revealed that Barbados is still in negotiation to have a second batch from India.
“Truly, this has been a very special moment for our people. And I really want to thank Prime Minister Modi for his quick decisive and magnanimous action in allowing us to be the beneficiary of these vaccines of which they have given us for our people,” Mottley said.
In underscoring the hard work executed by herself and Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt, the Barbados PM noted that the OECS would also benefit along with Trinidad and Tobago and Guyana, with the latter two assisting Barbados.
“...both of us have agreed that some of the vaccines which we have received will go to our brothers and sisters in those territories within the OECS; with Dominica taking care of some, Barbados doing some and Trinidad and Guyana as a result of the work have been done closely with our people in Barbados,” disclosed Mottley.
Meanwhile, Dominica received 70,000 doses of the same vaccine from the Government of India last evening, which were delivered by the same RSS flight and accepted by the Government in Roseau.
The first dose of the vaccine would kick in after three weeks, reminded Skerritt, as the territory would begin inoculating citizens and residents beginning on February 22.
That, according to the PM, would signal the start of the largest vaccination drive in the territory’s history.
“...from tomorrow we will proceed to advance our public awareness campaign to include the registration of persons interested in receiving vaccines,” he noted
Though he did not announce which territories are expected to be assisted with the vaccines, Skerrit disclosed that the shipment to OECS member states would begin tomorrow (Feb. 11).
SKNVibes reached out to the head of the National COVID-19 Task Force, Abdias Samuel, and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hazel Laws to enquire if St. Kitts and Nevis would be part of that donation, but was unsuccessful up to publication time.
