by Kevon Browne
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): The Federation now has an additional 20,000 Astrazenea COVID-19 vaccines, thanks to India.
Prime Minister Dr. Timothy Harris showered praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his country’s generosity, in a brief ceremony at the Robert L. Bradshaw International Airport, when the vaccines arrived close to 10:00 a.m. Monday (March 1).
“…. his generous heart and enduring sense of caring and solidarity are important values… COVID-19 has taught us many lessons, but perhaps the most important lesson is how interconnected and interdependent we are as a global community,” Harris said while urging other developed states to do more in helping other nations in the fight against the global pandemic.
The 20,000 vaccines are a portion of 175,000 vaccines India has earmarked for the OECS Member states and Suriname through multilateral negotiations.
St. Kitts and Nevis has decided to share 2000 of the vaccines with Grenada, a gesture that mirrors Dominica’s donation of 2000 vaccines to St. Kitts-Nevis on Thursday, February 11, 2021.
The 18,000 remaining will be combined with the Dominica donation as the country awaits another 21,600 vaccines from the COVAX facility in the coming weeks.
The Republic of China on Taiwan has also donated US$600,000 for the purchase of vaccines for the Federation.
The country aims to immunize 70-80 percent of the Federation’s estimated 53,000 people in an effort to attain population immunity.
