Caribbean Affairs
Small states at the back of the vaccine queue
The first Covax doses reached Trinidad and Tobago more than three months after mass vaccination began in Britain. Barbados sent doses of its own before then.
Britain started vaccinating the public on 8 December 2020. Trinidad and Tobago got its first Covax delivery, 33,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, on 30 March 2021.
Before that, the only doses in the country were 2,000 given by Barbados in February from a gift India had made to Prime Minister Mia Mottley's government. A neighbour sharing a very small supply did more than the international purchasing system had managed.
The World Health Organization's Director-General has warned of a “catastrophic moral failure” if richer countries buy up supply first. Caricom governments have raised the same point, collectively and in their own statements.
For a country that depends on energy exports and trade, the gap has a cost: businesses stay closed longer and hospitals stay under pressure. Governments owe the public a clear account of what was ordered, from whom, and when it will arrive.
Sources
Independent reporting by Pearce Robinson. Corrections and responses may be submitted here.
