BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - PRIME Minister Dr. Timothy Harris has made a strong plea to the Group of 7 (G7) and developed nations to stop hoarding the COVID-19 Vaccines and assist the less developed nations in accessing same.
Addressing a handing over ceremony of 20,000 vaccines from India, Dr. Harris underscored that the only way the world could get rid of the pandemic is if the global community works together.
Donation of vaccines, similar to what India has undertaken, Dr. Harris noted, shows that developing nations need help and support in accessing them.
“If richer nations hoard their vaccine supplies, not sharing their vaccines with those nations in need, their security will be a hollow and shallow one. No nation is safe! No nation is secure until all nations are safe,” added Harris.
The Prime Minister, who is CARICOM’s Lead for Health, called on those wealthier nations to do more to assist the smaller countries such as those in the region and Africa.
“In particular, I call this morning on the G7 countries - Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United State - as well as the European Union to make vaccines available to those nations in need in a timely manner,” Harris said.
Many of the larger nations have hoarded the major vaccine players by purchasing hundreds of millions of doses, pushing out the smaller developing nations to the back of the line, with early timelines being the end of the year.
That problem is compounded by the fact that many of those nations are also charging a double price, than what they paid, to smaller nations; a problem that was revealed by CARICOM’s Chairman and Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Keith Rowley.
“All we ask as members of the family of nations is that we not be forgotten, ignored or worse, taken advantage of in this business of life and death,” Dr. Rowley was quoted as saying by CARICOM.
Dr. Harris, in reiterating his gratitude to the Government and people of India, urged the G7 nations to move faster with their assistance to the smaller nations in order for the less developed economies to reach the herd immunity threshold.
He strongly echoed CARICOM's call for a global summit to discuss equitable access and distribution of vaccines.
“A genuine international effort is needed to bear this international pandemic”, Harris added.
