DLP says Government’s vaccine plan is ‘unclear and misleading’

The Democratic Labour Party is imploring the Minister of Health to tell the people of Barbados the quantity of COVID-19 vaccine on the island.

According to the party’s spokesperson on health, Paul Gibson, while residents have been told that almost 30,000 people have been vaccinated thus far, the plan that is being presented in respect to the vaccine is “unclear and misleading.”

“We have heard the Prime Minister state that she will be asking for contributions to the Vaccine Fund to pay for our next batch of vaccines, which are set to arrive in 12 weeks. But can we wait 12 weeks when the second dose of many of those vaccinated persons would be due in eight weeks? Logistically you must factor in the lead times for vaccination so that persons can be vaccinated early,” Gibson said.

“If we do not have the logistics of the vaccine in place then the entire vaccination campaign would become compromised. It was said that the BLP is taking the lead in helping poor people. The giving out of hampers is not  enough. Stimulate the economy, provide jobs, develop industries, this is also a core responsibility.”

Meantime, Gibson said while the Government has been in power for almost three years, the Food Security programme has still not effectively gotten off the ground.