Grenada: Minister of Tourism Grenada Clarice Modeste gets the first dose of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine along with hundreds of other frontline workers on Monday.
Minister said, “said the turnout was a sign of “the start of a rebirth of the sector that affords a livelihood to hundreds.”
“It was really reassuring to see the number of persons who set out to be vaccinated. This will assist us in reopen our tourism and travel sector. That sector, as you know, employs hundreds & once we can get that sector up and running, the economic situation will be different for all.” She added.
The Tourism Minister, who is also a medical doctor by profession, said she was confident the vaccine “would not only assist in resuming operations for the tourism sector but other sectors that are either directly or directly linked to tourism.”
Meantime, Minister of Health Nickolas Steele said the turnout demonstrated the significant uptake in Grenada’s strategy to living in a world where COVID-19 is endemic.
“It proves that the workers understand what is at stake and why they need the strength for us to reopen the hospitality sector,” said Steele, who was among the first ten people to get the injection.
“The only solution right now, not only in Grenada but throughout the world, is getting vaccinated, and I am happy with the turnout. Based on the numbers on the 1st day, 350 were injected & an equal number is already registered for Tuesday,” he added.
The national vaccination means will be conducted on a first-come, first-serve basis and will run until February 26. The current targeted frontline workers getting the vaccine are law enforcement officers such as police, customs, and immigration; port/dock workers; airport workers; hotel employees, and certified taxi operators.
Grenada is scheduled to receive 45,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX Facility, but earlier this month received 3,000 doses which were part of a gift the government of India gave to Barbados and Dominica.
As part of the COVAX facility, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) is leading efforts, in collaboration with Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) Revolving Fund, to procure and supply COVID-19 vaccine doses for these countries on behalf of the COVAX facility.
Of these, PAHO will be procuring and supplying doses to 10 nations in Latin America, which are Bolivia, Dominica, El Salvador, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Nicaragua, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, an official source said.
