Narayan AmmachchiThe United States has agreed to donate nearly a million Pfizer vaccine doses to the Caribbean countries, according to Associated Press.
“The Bahamas will receive 397,000 doses followed by Trinidad and Tobago with more than 305,000 doses. Barbados will receive 70,200 doses, while 35,100 are slated for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, 17,550 for Antigua, and 11,700 for St. Kitts and Nevis,” the news wire added.
The news comes amid reports of a sudden surge in COVID cases in some countries and protests against mandatory vaccination rules in some others.
The government on the French island of Guadeloupe, for example, has urged foreign tourists to depart, imposing stringent curfew for four weeks.
Martinique, another French overseas territory with just 370,000 people, is reporting 1,176 cases per 100,000 inhabitants.
Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, and Curacao are also reportedly struggling with a spike in coronavirus cases.
In Guyana, even healthcare workers are refusing vaccines, with anti-vaxxers asking the government why it is pressing everyone to get a jab.
The US has also sent 500,000 doses of Moderna vaccine to Haiti, the impoverished Caribbean nation reeling from one tragedy after another. More than 1,000 people have died in last week’s earthquake, which came a month after Haiti’s president was killed by foreign mercenaries.
Add comment