REPUBLIC OF CHINA (TAIWAN) PLEDGES US$600,000 TO ASSIST ST. KITTS AND NEVIS TO PROCURE COVID-19 VACCINES

Basseterre, St. Kitts, January 07, 2021 (SKNIS): The Republic of China (Taiwan) has pledged to assist St. Kitts and Nevis’ effort to procure additional COVID-19 vaccines once they become available under the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX).

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hazel Laws, said that the pledge was made by Taiwan’s Resident Ambassador His Excellency Tom Lee during a visit to the Ministry of Health on Wednesday, January 06, 2021.

“The Republic of China (Taiwan) is making a very generous donation to the Federation of US$600,000 towards the procurement of vaccines,” Dr. Laws stated during the National Emergency Operations Centre COVID-19 Briefing on Wednesday.

She added that St. Kitts and Nevis previously made the required down payment to the COVAX arrangement to make available enough vaccines to cover 20 percent of the population in the initial stages.

Taiwan has been a reliable partner in St. Kitts and Nevis’ war against the novel coronavirus. The ROC previously made donations of personal protective equipment (PPE) to the government. These included ventilators, N-95 facemasks, thermal camera sets, forehead thermal guns, protective clothing, isolation gowns, and testing machines.

Several countries have given emergency approval to use vaccines against COVID-19 among their populations. Persons are receiving vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech as well as Moderna. The United Kingdom recently approved a vaccine manufactured by Oxford-AstraZeneca for emergency use by its population.   -30-