Basseterre, St. Kitts, March 19, 2021 (SKNIS): The Team Unity Cabinet of Ministers met on Monday, March 15, 2021, at the Ministry of Finance Conference Room, under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris. Several issues affecting the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis were deliberated on.
- The National COVID-19 Task Force gave its weekly briefing to the Cabinet where the usual update on statistics with respect to infections, recoveries, and deaths locally, regionally, and internationally was given. The Chief Medical Officer addressed the situation with the suspension of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in some countries in Europe and also reiterated that the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) both gave guidelines that the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine was safe and efficacious. She gave the statistics on the vaccination efforts so far and recommended that the travel advisory should remain in place for another 30 days for those countries that have presented with new variants. The Ministry of Health Promotion Unit and the National COVID-19 Task Force were visiting manufacturing entities and workplaces with a large number of employees to educate the employees and to address vaccine hesitancy, while the Chief Medical Officer advised that it was necessary for herd immunity to be achieved in order for the country to resume some level of normalcy. The Chief Medical Officer also advised that 7, 200 vaccines will be arriving in the Federation at the end of this month, the first of three batches. The Director of the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC) reported on the statistics with respect to incoming and outgoing passengers and aircraft and informed the Cabinet that the roadmap to recovery was being finalized. In the meantime, the pharmaceutical measures that have been put in place for our safety and security and the enforcement of those measures will continue.
- Following a protest on March 15 by bus drivers of the East Bus Line Association, the executive of the Association, with the presence of the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism and Transport, was invited to the Cabinet for discussions in an effort to hear the concerns, to understand the challenges, and to plan a way forward. The Executive was very forthcoming and after discussions, their concerns were addressed in a manner that was acceptable to both parties.
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