Other Caribbean countries receive 425,000 vaccines from India

Seven Caribbean countries have received vaccines from India under its Vaccine Maitri initiative, with at least one more scheduled to receive vaccines soon.

The total number of doses distributed so far is 425,000.

St Lucia received 25,000 vaccines on Tuesday, while St Vincent and the Grenadines received 40,000. St Kitts and Nevis received 20,000 vaccines on Monday, along with Antigua and Barbuda, which got 40,000, and Suriname, which received 50,000.

Barbados and Dominica received 100,000 and 70,000 vaccines on February 10.

Guyana is scheduled to receive 80,000 vaccines this week.

The vaccines are the Covishield vaccines being manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

On February 10, Caricom Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque thanked Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his “generous contribution of 500,000 doses of covid19 vaccines to the Caribbean Community. A tangible expression of goodwill in this challenging time.”Trinidad and Tobago has not received any vaccines from India, although Caricom and Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne has said that negotiations are taking place at various diplomatic levels.