Flags of CELAC and CARICOM countries.
GEORGETOWN, Guyana--The Caribbean Community CARICOM welcomes the support of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States CELAC for its call for a global summit to address urgently the issue of equitable access and distribution of vaccines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
CARICOM Chairman, Dr. Keith Rowley, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago had written in January, on behalf of the Community, to Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus urging him to convene at the earliest possible opportunity, a global summit to address urgently equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, particularly for developing countries. The summit, Rowley proposed, would be held in the context of the organisation’s ACT-A Facilitation Council. The call was repeated by CARICOM Heads of Government following the Intersessional Meeting which they held late last month.
The CELAC statement issued by Mexico as the President Pro Tempore of the group, expressed concern over the lack of delivery of vaccines to the small island developing states (SIDS) of the region. The statement said that while CELAC supported the COVAX mechanism, it called for the Caribbean to “receive the vaccines as quickly and equitably as possible.”
“We are convinced that the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of maintaining a strong, united and caring Latin American and Caribbean region, where no country is excluded from universal, fair, equitable and timely access to medicines, vaccines and medical supplies.
“Therefore, Mexico joins the call made by the Caribbean Community CARICOM to hold a global summit within the framework of the World Health Organization to address the urgent equitable access to said vaccines,” the statement said.
It also noted, “This Pro Tempore Presidency endorses the statement of the meeting of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors of the G20 countries, held on February 26, 2021, which reaffirms the support to the most vulnerable countries, especially those facing an unsustainable debt burden. Therefore, a call is made to the COVAX mechanism to expedite the delivery of vaccine doses to the countries of the region, particularly to those participating in the Advanced Market Commitment modality, a financial mechanism within the COVAX initiative that allows the poorest countries in the world to have access to the vaccine against COVID-19 through donations.
“It is essential to strengthen technical assistance to the least favoured countries and facilitate the affordability of financial instruments so that they can access vaccines against COVID-19 as quickly as possible. Likewise, multilateral initiatives must be implemented to enable these countries, including SIDS, to cope with the current situation and achieve rapid economic recovery.”
