Barbados shares vaccine grants with T&T

(L-R) At the reception of the vaccines are Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, Senator Dr Jerome Walcott and Honorary Consul of India in Barbados Dr Philomena Mohini-Harris.

Barbados has received the 100,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from India in nine boxes and the plan is to share the doses with Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and some other Eastern Caribbean territories.
Their Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, Health Minister Lt Col Jeffrey Bostic, Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Dr Jerome Walcott, Public Health Specialist and National Coordinator of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign Dr Elizabeth Ferdinand and Honorary Consul of India in Barbados Dr Philomena Mohini-Harris, as well as members of the Barbados Defence Force were on the tarmac to meet the plane and receive the vaccines on behalf of Barbadians.
PM Mottley addressed the nation earlier tonight, just after 7:30 pm in a televised and streamed press conference from Ilaro Court, saying that she thanks India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi for ensuring that members of the Commonwealth including Barbados has received vaccines.
Pleased, she said that she can confirm Barbados "took possession just hours ago of nine boxes of vaccines, 100,000 doses of vaccines for 50,000 persons of the vaccine the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to aid in our battle with COVID-19...
"These are parts of the first batch of a potential 200,000 doses for Barbados."
Having made mention of the hope to attain more vaccines to cater to the entire population or the majority as government works towards herd immunity, Prime Minister Mottley reiterated the wish to purchase the remaining 100,000 from the government of India.
Despite still being in negotiations for the second batch, today, the PM said:
"Thank you to 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 which they have given us for our people and indeed in sending it in the shortest possible time to aid in our fight. We believe this is a special moment."
Six boxes of vaccines were sent on to Dominica from the Grantley Adams International Airport in Barbados, and PM Mottley said it is Dominica's hope as well to get a second batch in six to eight weeks too.
The two prime ministers, Mottley and PM Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica, worked together to make these donations a possibility and they have decided that other members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) should be beneficiaries too. This is according to Prime Minister Mottley, who went on to state that:
"In Barbados' case, Trinidad and Guyana who have helped us over the last year, believe you me nobody has gone through this without seeking assistance and therefore both of us have decided that some of the vaccines that 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 that has been done closely with our people in Barbados."  Source: The Loop, Feb 10, 2021