India's vaccine donation to arrive on Monday

Trinidad and Tobago will receive a donation of 40,000 doses of its Covishield vaccine next Monday from the Government of India.

This was announced by the India High Commission through an e-mail on Tuesday afternoon.

It said in a brief message to the media, “The Government of India’s donation of 40,000 Covishield vaccines to TT is scheduled to arrive in Port of Spain on Monday, April 12, 2021. Necessary logistics have been put in place for its delivery."

Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh could not be reached for comment.

In early March the country first received 2,000 vaccines as a donation from Barbados from the 100,000 doses given to that island from India.

Several other countries in the Caribbean also received donations from India from a batch of 500,000 vaccines.

Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar criticised the government for not positioning the country to receive some of those doses.

A spat between Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne and Persad-Bissessar followed after she wrote to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on behalf of the country, requesting a donation of the AstraZeneca covid19 vaccines.

The Prime Minister broke his silence on the issue days later, saying the country would not go “begging” for vaccines as gifts, and the government wasn’t invited to take part in Indian’s vaccine programme.

After talks between the high commissioner and Browne to resolve the misunderstanding, the government announced India’s decision to send TT 40,000 doses as a gift.