One hundred percent of Dominica’s population is expected to receive full access of the COVID-19 vaccine once it is made available.
In making the announcement on his weekly talk show, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit disclosed that his government has been working on vaccine access for some time.
“The intention here is for us to be in a position to provide vaccines to 100 percent of the population,” he said. “Obviously it will be by choice, but 100 percent of our population will have access to this.”
He continued, “We are working on two tracks. We will be getting vaccines from PAHO [Pan American Health Organization].”
Skerrit said also that there is an international organization who has committed to providing Dominica with vaccines.
“I believe it might be about 20 percent of our population,” he noted.
The Prime Minister indicated that the numbers will be finalized soon.
“But we are also in discussion with the World Bank and through the World Bank we are able to get financing of 20 percent of our population,” he revealed. “I am speaking to the World Bank to increase that to 50 percent of our population.”
He added, “The idea is, the 50 percent of the World Bank and 25 percent from PAHO, we are talking about 70 to 75 percent and we are also engaging from the government to mobilize some resources.”
He said there may be a vaccine fee for those who can afford.
“Those of us who can pay something will have to pay something, but I believe we will keep it consistent with our policy on health where everybody 18 [years] and younger gets free medical care and everybody 60 and older gets free medical care,” Skerrit stated.
He said it all depends on how the government is receiving its financing.
“If somebody gives it to us for free, we are not going to sell it to Dominicans,” he explained.
Meantime, he said building public trust through public education is important, “utilizing the primary health system to communicate with the public.”
He warns that misinformation must be avoided since this poses a challenge in educating people.
Skerrit believes that persons have to avoid misinformation since it’s a challenge in educating people
An article posted on edition.cnn.com on Wednesday stated that the United Kingdom (UK) has become the first Western nation to approve a Covid-19 vaccine, a landmark moment in the coronavirus pandemic that paves the way for the first doses to be rolled out across the country next week.
The Federal Drug Agency (FDA) says it needs at least another week before the Pfizer vaccine which has been approved in the US can get the nod in the US.
