CARICOM Prioritised in US Vaccine Sharing Strategy
The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is among priority regions to which the United States will provide vaccines through the COVAX Facility, the White House announced on Thursday.
Announcing that the US will share vaccines in service of ending the pandemic globally, the White House released its framework for sharing 80 million US vaccine doses worldwide.
Specifically, it announced that it would share 75 per cent of the vaccines through COVAX, with priorities being Latin America and the Caribbean, South and South East Asia, and Africa in coordination with the African Union.
is pleased and heartened by today’s announcement by the #USG of initial global vaccine allocations to countries including #CARICOM Member States. We look forward to activation of this process which will contribute to our health, safety and recovery. @USEmbassyJA #partnerships https://t.co/AfRBSQsn2n
— Hon. Kamina J Smith (@kaminajsmith) June 3, 2021
“The United States will share at least three-quarters of its donated doses through COVAX, supplying U.S. doses to countries in need. This will maximise the number of vaccines available equitably for the greatest number of countries and for those most at-risk within countries. For doses shared through COVAX, the United States will prioritize Latin America and the Caribbean, South and Southeast Asia, and Africa, in coordination with the African Union,” the White House Statement said.
In its first tranche of 25 million doses, about 19 million will be shared through COVAX about six million for South and Central America to the following countries: Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador, Paraguay, Bolivia, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Haiti, and other Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, as well as the Dominican Republic.
On Thursday, US Vice President, Kamala Harris, held telephone conference meetings with four heads of government including Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. the Hon Keith Rowley who is the Chair of CARICOM. In separate calls, the Vice President notified each of the leaders that the Biden-Harris Administration would begin sharing the first 25 million doses of COVID vaccines to their respective countries and others, as part of the Administration’s framework for sharing at least 80 million vaccines globally by the end of June.
This is the very latest in a series of high-level contacts which the Chairman of CARICOM has been having with high-level officials of the US Administration in recent weeks.
Read more at: White House Fact Sheet
Source: CARICOM TODAY