By Sue-Ann Wayow
THE United States Embassy in Trinidad and Tobago has officially announced that this country will receive 305,370 Pfizer vaccine doses. They arrived just before 8am on Thursday.
This will be the first batch in a total of 908,000 vaccines in this brand, the US said it will give to T&T.
In a press release by the Embassy on Wednesday, the Embassy confirmed the US Government’s announcement that Trinidad and Tobago will receive the vaccines along with other Caribbean countries.
The donation was part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to sharing its vaccines with the world, and President Joe Biden’s promise that America will be the arsenal of vaccines in the global fight against Covid-19, the Embassy stated.
In June, the President committed to donate at least 80 million vaccines from the US supply to countries throughout the world, as well as working in partnership with COVAX and CARICOM. On August 3, Biden announced the US have donated and delivered more than 110 million doses to more than 60 countries.
The Embassy stated, “The economic and familial ties, shared history, and deeply rooted values bind the United States with its Caribbean neighbours, so we are working together as strong partners to fight this pandemic.
“The nearly 908,000 doses the United States has committed to donating to Trinidad and Tobago will constitute 77% of all vaccines donated to Trinidad and Tobago since deliveries started in February.”
The Pfizer vaccine is the only vaccine World Health Organization (WHO) approved for use in children as young as 12 years old.
All of the vaccines that the United States Government donates are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. These were the same vaccines that all Americans can receive and were the same doses the US was sharing globally, the Embassy added.
Pfizer’s Latin America President Carlos Murillo said, “Pfizer-BioNTech’s focus is on helping to end the Covid-19 pandemic for everyone, everywhere, and that requires the hard work and collaboration of many. Due to the generous support of the US Government and the commitment of CARICOM and CARPHA(Caribbean Public Health Agency) to ensure that their citizens are protected, we will be able to accelerate access to our Covid-19 vaccine for the people of the Caribbean at no cost, expanding our global fight against this deadly disease.”
And US Embassy Chargé d’Affaires Shante Moore said, “We are proud, in coordination with CARICOM, to deliver these safe and effective vaccines to the people of Trinidad and Tobago. We are donating the Pfizer vaccine not to secure favors, extract concessions, or pursue hidden agendas. We are not imposing conditions the way other countries are doing. We are donating these vaccines absolutely free of charge. We are giving them for a single purpose: to save lives and end the pandemic.”
