Barbados: The charisma of Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley’s diplomacy with India helped to get 100,000 Covishield vaccine doses instantly. Gurdip Dev Bath, a special representative of St Kitts and Nevis utilized his strong diplomatic ties and made the timely delivery of COVID-19 vaccines possible to the Caribbean countries. St Kitts and Nevis were also among the very few countries globally to have access to vaccines due to the efforts of Gurdip Dev Bath.
More than 92 countries have written a letter to Indian PM Narendra Modi for the coronavirus vaccine jabs; in this race, this seems to be Barbados’ big victory.
With a population of over 287,000, Barbados has recorded 1,641 confirmed cases of coronavirus, and 1,274 persons have recovered.
The vaccine which reached Barbados on Tuesday is manufactured in Pune-based Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine maker.
Prime Minister Mia Mottley has expressed her gratitude to the Indian government and the people for the “most generous” donation of COVID-19 vaccine doses.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, Mottley said: “I trust that you are well and safe. On behalf of my Government and people, I wish to express gratitude to you, your Government, and the people of the Republic of India for its most generous donation of the Covishield vaccines (under the auspices of Oxford Astrazeneca).”
Public Health Specialist and National Co-Coordinator of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign Dr. Elizabeth Ferdinand of Barbados said, “We are not vaccinating people under 18. Still, as far as race, ethnicity, or sex is involved, it is safe for anybody.”
However, she added that the vaccine would not be administered to people who are allergic to its components or people who have severe allergies, including those who use an EpiPen – a medical device used in emergencies to treat very severe allergic reactions.
President of the Barbados Association of Medical Practitioners, Dr. Lynda Williams, also reassured that there was no need to fear the vaccine.
India has already supplied 150,000 COVID vaccines to Bhutan 100,00 doses to Maldives & 1 million doses to Nepal, 2 million doses to Bangladesh, and the list of numbers are very long.
India is targeting to donate 10 million doses to the whole world.
