Minister of Health, Dr Frank Anthony, has called upon developed countries to make an interim supply of vaccines available to the Caribbean region.
Anthony made the plea while speaking on behalf of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), at a special meeting convened by the United Nations (UN) Economic and Social Council.
Dr Anthony lamented, “Caricom remains deeply concerned” about the inequitable access and unbalanced distribution of COVID-19 vaccines globally.”
The health minister said that access to vaccines is particularly important for small developing states since these countries continue to experience the devastating health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He added that lockdown measures, supply chain disruptions, sharp declines in remittances, and a general decrease in travel, trade, and other economic activities that the region depends on, have all been disrupted by the pandemic.
According to recent reports from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), there will be uneven growth in the real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) across the Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) region. The Real GDP measures a country’s total economic output, adjusted for price changes. Importantly, the IMF noted that the tourism-dependent countries have been adversely affected due to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic.
Against this backdrop of the disproportionate impact the pandemic has had on Caribbean states, the minister reiterated the Caribbean’s call for global and equitable access to vaccines stating that this will lessen the impact of the pandemic, protect citizens, and bolster the economy.
