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News > Trinidad and Tobago

Trinidad & Tobago Addresses COVID-19 Response With the US

  • Workers unload a Sinopharm vaccines shipment, Piarco, Trinidad & Tobago, May. 19, 2021.

    Workers unload a Sinopharm vaccines shipment, Piarco, Trinidad & Tobago, May. 19, 2021. | Photo: Facebook/ @MinistryofHealthTT

Published 3 June 2021
Opinion

Prime Minister Keith Rowley held a video call with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister and Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Keith Rowley on Thursday held a telephone conference meeting with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris to address the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.  

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The meeting comes following U.S President Joe Biden's intention to donate 80 million COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, 75 percent of which will be delivered through the COVAX initiative.

On Saturday, Rowley informed that two payments to the African Medical Supplies Platform were made for additional vaccines, including Chinese-produced Sinopharm doses, which started to be administered in the country on May 21.

Trinidad & Tobago is set to start the AstraZeneca second dose shot campaign on Monday, following the donation of 10,000 doses from Grenada.

Highlighting the Caribbean region's vulnerabilities to face the pandemic, the CARICOM chairman has joined the calls by the World Health Organization (WHO) and other countries for equitable access to vaccines.

In February, CARICOM noted that while the COVAX facility will provide up to 20 percent of its members’ needs, this limited supply will not guarantee regional herd immunity.

"The pandemic has highlighted the vulnerabilities of our Community and those of many other Small Island Developing States," Rowley said during a high-level CARICOM meeting early this year. 

"To ensure our post-pandemic recovery, we must continue to call for the broadening of existing economic vulnerability indices, which take into account the impact that climate change, natural disasters, and global pandemics have on our development," he added.

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