His Excellency Dr. K. J. Srinivasa, left, High Commissioner of India to St. Kitts and Nevis and Ambassador of India to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), with Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis and Foreign Affairs Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis.BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — Twenty-thousand doses of AstraZeneca-Oxford University COVID-19 vaccine to the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis arrived in the Federation on March 1 at the Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw Airport from the Republic of India.
Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, and the Premier of Nevis and Foreign Affairs, and Nevis Honourable Mark Brantley, extended their gratitude to the donation from the Government of India.
Some of the 20,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines donated to St. Kitts and Nevis by the government of India being offloaded at the Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw International Airport on March 1.The vaccines, were part of a larger batch of some 570,000 doses donated by the Government of India to the CARICOM region. Of that number, 125,000 doses went to the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States countries. Antigua and Barbuda and St. Vincent and the Grenadines received 40,000 doses each, Saint Lucia got 25,000 and St. Kitts and Nevis received 20,000.
The donation of 20,000 doses of Covishield vaccine- the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, is the second batch of COVID-19 vaccines to arrive in St. Kitts and Nevis. The vaccine was manufactured in India by the Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, in collaboration with AstraZeneca.
The vaccines were presented to the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis by His Excellency Dr. K. J. Srinivasa, High Commissioner of the Republic of India accredited to the Federation.
In accepting the donation, Prime Minister Harris said the additional doses of vaccine represent “real hope for our people that working together we can defeat COVID-19.”
“Through His Excellency Srinivasa, High Commissioner of the Government and people of India accredited to the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis, I would like to thank the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi for the compassion he is showing other nations during this period of the global COVID-19 pandemic,” said Hon. Dr. Harris. “His generous heart and enduring sense of caring and solidarity are important values which our governments share.”
“We welcome this diplomatic success in strengthening our bilateral relations with India. India has demonstrated in a tangible way its commitment to the people of St. Kitts and Nevis,” said Premier Brantley. “This donation of life-saving COVID-19 vaccines is a humanitarian effort which is unsurpassed in its generosity. We thank Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi, his government and the people of India for their commitment to strengthening and deepening the relationship between our two countries.”
Prime Minister Harris noted that one of the lessons learnt during this pandemic is how interconnected and interdependent we are as a global community.
“Against this backdrop, no nation is safe, no nation is secure until all nations are safe. If the world is truly to be rid of COVID-19, then the global community has to work together,”
said Dr. Harris. “Donations of vaccines, like these from India, show that developing nations need help and need support. If richer nations hoard their vaccine supplies, not sharing their vaccines with those nations in need, their security will be a hollow and a shallow one. I repeat then that no nation is safe, no nation is secure until all nations are safe.”
Hon. Brantley also thanked His Excellency Dr. K. J. Srinivasa, High Commissioner of India to St. Kitts and Nevis and Ambassador of India to the Caribbean Community, for his efforts in getting the vaccines to the Federation in a timely manner.
During the presentation ceremony H.E. Dr. Srinivasa said, “Being able to assist its ally nation occupies a very special place in India’s foreign policy. “It is in times such as these emergency situations that the real friends come out, and I must say this day really marks a special milestone in our bilateral relationship.”
H.E. Dr. Srinivasa said being able to assist its ally nation occupies a very special place in India’s foreign policy.
“It is in times such as these emergency situations that the real friends come out, and I must say this day really marks a special milestone in our bilateral relationship,” said Dr. Srinivasa.
Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris and His Excellency Dr. K. J. Srinivasa, High Commissioner of the Republic of India accredited to St. Kitts and Nevis at the March 1 presentation ceremony for 20,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines.
His Excellency Dr. K. J. Srinivasa, High Commissioner of India to St. Kitts and Nevis and Ambassador of India to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), left, with Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis and Foreign Affairs Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis.
Some of the 20,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines donated to St. Kitts and Nevis by the government of India being offloaded at the Robert Llewellyn Bradshaw International Airport on March 1.
