Prime Minister Gaston Browne at the opening of the Forty-Second Regular Meeting used the opportunity to address the issue of vaccine hesitancy, calling on persons who are reluctant to take the jab.
This issue is not unique to Antigua and Barbuda and PM Browne along with other CARICOM heads of government will be discussing that matter at the two-day meeting.
Prime Minister Browne stated that “COVID19 has taken of our economic foundations and the recovery will test the strength of our will to work together to prevent economic collapse.
The collective approach that served us so well in managing the outbreak of the pandemic in our region must be translated to the economic sphere so that we will not only survive this test but thrive and emerge stronger.”
“A crucial weapon in this battle is the vaccination of our populations until herd immunity is achieved. Acquiring sufficient vaccines is only one part of the equation the other side of the equation is to ensure that a sufficient number of our citizens are inoculated so that our countries can gain herd immunity,” PM Browne added.
“I call on my colleagues heads for us to give some time and attention over the next few days to this important question of vaccine hesitancy in our region and to devise joint strategies in tackling it head-on.”
The Antigua and Barbuda government has offered a slew of incentives to get its population to take the jab including a $5,000 weekly lottery, a parcel of land and food and gas vouchers.
