Barbados is actively seeking COVID-19 vaccination sources from several suppliers.
Speaking during Thursday’s COVID-19 update, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley stated that Government had negotiated access to the African Medical Supplies platform, saying: “I received a call (Wednesday) from the coordinator who has in fact been requested by the President of South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, to lead a group of persons who were then deputed to go and meet with all of the companies manufacturing vaccines to be able to secure a set of purchases for the African continent going forward.”
She outlined the African Union has secured over 270 million doses from three companies and the Government had received a call from the Council of the Heads of Government of Africa who believe that in this exercise, they should carry along their brothers and sisters in the Caribbean Community.
“And, accordingly, I briefed the Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community last night (Wednesday) and we will have two weeks to determine whether we want to participate. The vaccine and the procurement opportunities will be put on the platform from Monday and as I said we are in a state of heightened negotiations across the board, not just with them, but with others to see how we can literally be able to acquire enough to provide the herd immunity, so some level of normalcy can come back to Barbados as soon as possible and to the region as soon as possible,” Mottley stressed.
Insisting that Barbados and the region as a whole must have access to the vaccine to meet the needs of the population, the PM nevertheless added: “In the absence of a public space that allows for equitable distribution, the difficulty with this virus is that if you don’t allow for all to get it, you run the risk that it will continue to play with the global community and not to leave us the way that we expect it to leave us.
“So my friends, these discussions are very much alive. We are in no way near finished them, but I felt that I needed to share with you in order to bring a sense of calm in terms of what the future looks like and where we expect to be going in the next few months,” she continued. (JMB)