BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, March 19, 2021 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – The Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) convened its 6th Special Meeting of the OECS Authority earlier today (Friday, March 19) where a number of matters relating to the ongoing fight against COVID-19, availability of vaccines and economic recovery post COVID-19 were addressed.
Atthe invitation of the Authority, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, participated in Friday’s discussions.
PrimeMinister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris represented the twin island Federation at the high-level meeting, which was held virtually. He was supported by the Minister of Health, the Honourable Akilah Byron-Nisbett; Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws; His Excellency Sydney Osborne, Ambassador to the OECS Commissioner and Mr. Samuel Berridge, Assistant Secretary in the Regional Integration and Diaspora Unit.
Afterextending welcome and commendations to Dr. Tedros on his role and leadership in the ongoing fight against COVID-19, Prime Minister Harris opined that continued delays in the acquisition of adequate vaccines for small island states, like those of the OECS subregion, would result in prolonged economic hardships.
“Being a region that is highly dependent upon tourism, the longer this uncertainty pervades with respect to our ability to get our people vaccinated then we are going to get deeper into economic difficulty,” Dr. Harris said.
Friday’s meeting also featured remarks by the Director-General of the OECS, Dr. Didacus Jules, as well as the Executive Director of the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), Dr. Joy St. John.
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