The race to get back to some semblance of normalcy in the Caribbean now depends on how much of the population gets vaccinated against COVID-19.
It has been stated by many Caribbean governments that tourism, Carnival, the re-opening of borders and schools, rests in the hands of its citizens being willing to accept the vaccine.
Not everything has been equal globally with the distribution of vaccines.
In the Caribbean, governments wait on the COVAX facility, accept donations, share vaccines amongst the islands and look to other sources to access the jab.
Here is a breakdown of how vaccinations look so far in some Caribbean islands:
St Kitts and Nevis
St Kitts and Nevis is administering the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to its citizens. The island received a donation of 2,000 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine from Dominica.
St Kitts and Nevis also received 20,000 vaccine doses from the Government of India.
Under the COVAX facility, St Kitts and Nevis has been allocated 21,600 vaccine doses.
The Federation is also seeking access to other COVID-19 vaccines through two other mechanisms.
Over 7,500 vaccine doses have been administered to date.
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda through the government of India received a donation of 40,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine. The island was also gifted 5,000 vaccine doses from Dominica.
Under the COVAX agreement, Antigua and Barbuda was allocated 40,800 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Additional efforts are ongoing to procure 100,000 AstraZeneca doses from three sources.
Over 25,000 vaccine doses have been administered to date.
Barbados
Photo: Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley took her first vaccine dose in January.
Barbados is using the Covishield vaccine by Oxford-AstraZeneca. Barbados received a gift of 100,000 doses of the vaccine from India. Barbados shared doses with many islands.
The island was also allocated 100,800 vaccine doses under the COVAX facility agreement.
Over 61,000 vaccine doses have been administered to date.
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia in the early days received 1,000 vaccine doses from Barbados and 2,000 doses from Dominica. (Barbados and Dominica shared their portion of vaccines from the Government of India).
Saint Lucia later received a donation of 25,000 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine from India.
The island has also been allocated 74,400 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine through the COVAX facility.
Over 20,000 vaccine doses have been administered to date.
Dominica
Photo: Melissa Poponne-Skerrit, the Parliamentary Representative for the city of Roseau, received her first dose of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine.
Dominica received the gift of 20,000 doses of the Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine from The People’s Republic of China. The island also received 70,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from India.
Dominica shared doses from this batch with other islands in the region. Under the COVAX facility, Dominica was allocated 28,800 vaccine doses.
Over 13,000 vaccine doses have been administered to date.
St Vincent and the Grenadines
Photo: Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves and his wife Eloise after receiving their second dose of Sputnik V.
St Vincent and the Grenadines was gifted 5,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from Dominica.
Twenty doses of the Russian vaccine Sputnik V were also received by St Vincent and the Grenadines, through an intermediary.
It also received 40,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine Covishield AstraZeneca from the Government of India.
Through the COVAX facility, St Vincent and the Grenadines has been allocated 45,600 vaccine doses.
Over 9,000 vaccine doses have been administered to date.
Grenada
Photo: Prime Minister of Grenada Dr Keith Mitchell when he received his first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine.
Grenada received 6,000 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine that was manufactured in India and gifted to them by Dominica. Barbados shared 500 vaccine doses with Grenada. Antigua and Barbuda has also stated that it will share 5,000 vaccine doses with Grenada.
Through the COVAX facility, Grenada has been allocated 45,600 vaccine doses.
Over 8,600 vaccine doses have been administered to date.
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago was gifted 2,000 doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine from Barbados.
The twin-island nation will receive 100,800 vaccine doses through the COVAX facility.
Over 1,100 vaccine doses have been administered to frontline workers to date.
Jamaica
Jamaica became the first country in the Caribbean to receive 14,400 vaccine doses out of the 124,800 allocated to it through the COVAX facility.
India also sent 50,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine to Jamaica. The island has also secured 1.8 million vaccine doses under the African Medical Supply Platform.
Through various platforms, Jamaica expects to have a total of over 874,000 vaccine doses by the end of May.
Over 16,000 vaccine doses have been administered to date.
