Barbados adopt wait-and-see on vaccines

Armed with another significant commitment to the COVID-19 vaccination fund, Prime Minister Mia Mottley has announced that Barbados will begin purchasing and distributing immunisation vaccines only when world health bodies approve them.

She informed Parliament on Tuesday that last Friday the fund received a US$1.2 million pledge but noted that Barbados will await the all-clear from Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) and World Health Organisation (WHO) before rolling out its vaccination programme.

“When the time comes vaccines will be delivered as long as we can access them and as long as we are satisfied from WHO and PAHO that they are safe and ready … this country will do it in its right time,” she said adding that Barbados was in no race to implement the jabs programme.

“There is nothing to be gained by being the first, there is something to be gained by being the most informed and the most-ready in terms of rollout when it comes.

“We follow the science, we consult and we educate and sensitise.”

She explained that one of the main reasons for awaiting word from the large regional and global organisations is that given its size this country does not have the medical facilities or regulatory framework to conduct its own tests.

Additionally, the island’s status in terms of size, does not allow it to “inappropriately on injudiciously or arbitrarily” take actions that can compromise the entire population.

“It is for that reason … we await outcome of the assessments by the global experts at the World Health Organisation and at the Pan-American Health Organisation.

“We are grateful for that donation because it will provide a significant amount of vaccines for thousands of Barbadians when it becomes available,” she said and thanked “all those who donated significantly to the effort,” she said of Friday’s financial pledge.

Addressing the Lower House as she tabled two bills to pave the way for awarding persons who have contributed significantly to the island’s COVID-19 battle, she observed, “Barbados has been lucky in that we don’t have only people who born here who feel this country is their own but others who have come to live here who have embraced this country as if they were born here.”

The two pieces of legislation introduced were the Barbados Humanitarian Service Award Bill and Gold Award of Achievement (Amendment) Bill.

On the back of a successful anti-COVID campaign so far, Health Minister Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Bostic said that whenever Barbados acquires vaccines the jabs will simply boost the programme.

“The vaccines will enhance what we’ve been doing for the last several months but if we continue to do exactly what we are doing we will get out of this, the vaccines will just make it faster, safer and better so that economic activity can resume and our  way of life can resume in this country.”

While the island awaits the PAHO/WHO greenlight it has been positioning itself to acquire vaccines when the time it right.

It is a grab for scarce resources worldwide and Minister in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sandra Husbands said a struggle on that front is now on.

“Just as we had to battle for respirators, just as we had to battle for PPE there is a battle over vaccines. Barbados has enjoined that fight,” she said.
(GA)