Canada donates more than 82,000 AstraZeneca vaccines, to Trinidad

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago has accepted the generous offer of 82,030 doses of WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines from the Government of Canada.

The consignment of these AstraZeneca vaccines was scheduled to arrive in Trinidad and Tobago from Canada Thursday afternoon.

This donation comes subsequent to advocacy engaged by Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley via direct correspondence to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earlier this year, and subsequent to consistent diplomacy and dialogue between Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Dr. Amery Browne, his Canadian counterpart Minister Marc Garneau, and the High Commissioner of Canada to Trinidad and Tobago Kumar Gupta.

Minister Browne has expressed the sincere gratitude of the Government and People of Trinidad and Tobago to the Government and People of Canada, and noted that this marks the first occasion that Canada has shared COVID-19 vaccines directly with any nation, outside of its prior sharing via COVAX.

The Government of Trinidad and Tobago continues the acquisition of WHO-approved COVID-19 vaccines for the population, and the Ministry of Health will be utilizing these vaccines within its national vaccine rollout.

The Government also advises that further progress has been made toward finalization of vaccines from the United States of America’s vaccine initiative.