China donates Sinopharm vaccines to Barbados

FILE PHOTO: A Sinopharm sign is seen at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, China, September 5, 2020. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A Sinopharm sign is seen at the 2020 China International Fair for Trade in Services (CIFTIS) in Beijing, China, September 5, 2020. REUTERS/Tingshu Wang/File Photo

(Barbados Nation) Fifteen thousand more Barbadians will have the opportunity to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

Following the arrival of 30 000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines yesterday which were a gift from the Chinese government, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley led the call for those who have chosen not be inoculated against the viral illness to reconsider their position.

During a brief ceremony at Grantley Adams International Airport where the medicine and 32 000 syringes arrived at 1 p.m. on board a Virgin Atlantic flight, Mottley said that although COVID-19 restrictions would be lessened from today, Barbadians should not drop their guards.

“A few weeks ago St Kitts was a model in the Caribbean, but today St Kitts is perhaps in one of the most comprehensive lockdowns for days at a time. Although we have journeyed the corner from the worst moment, we must not let down our guard at all because we are as good as the action we take in the next minute,” she said.

She acknowledged there were still many conspiracy theories about immunisation despite the 65 000 people here who received both shots for the virus. Mottley told Barbadians the ball was in their court.

“Like with anything else in life there is a small risk, but the risk of not taking it is far greater for you to get ill and for something to happen to somebody you love, than if you take it”, she said.