BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - THE Federation can expect to formally receive its doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India within the next two weeks, which is in addition to those gotten from Dominica.
That disclosure came from India's High Commissioner to Guyana, Antigua and Barbuda, and St. Kitts-Nevis, Dr. KJ Srinivasa during an interview with SKNVibes News.
The High Commissioner disclosed that the shipment, which is expected to arrive before the end of this month, is part of a tranche of 500,000 vaccines that was promised to the region by the Government of India.
India is currently manufacturing the AstraZeneca vaccines for distribution across the world and has been making doses available to those regions that are finding it difficult to procure doses due to the fact that many of the large nations, such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and other European nations, have bought large batches.
Dr. Srinivasa explained that the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to promote international cooperation in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, and that is what is being undertaken in the region where India has a close relationship.
He reminded that India has been producing approximately 50 percent of the world’s vaccines, such as that for Polio, before the COVID-19 pandemic struck - and the World Health Organisation (WHO) has been relying on New Delhi to support doses.
It is against that backdrop that India has seen itself as the first responder to help developing nations fight the pandemic by providing the doses.
Underscoring the scale of the largest vaccine industry in the world, Dr. Srinivasa disclosed that “India has so far donated 6.5 million vaccines to over 15 countries. We have more than 25 countries in the cue right now and about 16.5 million doses have been sent out on a commercial basis”.
“We are expecting vaccines to arrive in St. Kitts and Nevis within the next two weeks,” disclosed Dr. Srinivasa.
The High Commissioner revealed that with the capacity that is available to India, the Government is expecting to have 650 million vaccine doses available by July.
According to Dr. Srinivasa, his Government has committed to providing 10.5 million doses to Africa and one million to the United Nations Health Workers, and those on the frontline in the war-torn regions of the world.
At the time of the interview, the High Commissioner was not in a position to say how many vaccines would be allocated to St. Kitts and Nevis, as the numbers are still being worked out in New Delhi.
He however informed that he is still in touch with the Government and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to determine the exact amount that is being requested and that details would be provided at a later date.
