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Basseterre, St Kitts: The twin-island nation of the Caribbean, St Kitts and Nevis have vaccinated 20% of the target population in just three weeks of receiving Oxford Astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine doses from India. 

St Kitts and Nevis received the vaccine on March 1, and the vaccine roll-out was initiated soon after. The country is running slogans like “Don’t Wait, Vaccinate” and “Our Best shot” to raise awareness of the immunization campaigns. 

So far, 6,717 doses of the vaccines have been administrated in both St Kitts and Nevis. 

As per official statistics, 4,822 people have received their first dose of vaccine in St Kitts, and around 1,895 received the jabs in Nevis. The country’s health ministry claims to have inoculated 20.33% percent of the target population in three weeks. 

The government’s aim is to vaccinate 33,037 people on a priority basis, while thus far on 4,822 have received their first doses. 

The vaccine drive for front-line workers was started in February after the country received 2,000 doses of the Oxford Astrazeneca coronavirus vaccine from Dominica. 

St Kitts and Nevis also donated around 2,000 doses of the vaccine to Grenada from the 20,000 vaccine shipment from India. 

The coronavirus cases graph remains to be lower than a hundred in St Kitts and Nevis. The smallest country in the western hemisphere recorded only 43 cases of the contagious virus, while no-virus-related deaths have been recorded. 

Even though the country’s wider population relies on the tourism sector, the borders were closed much before other countries in the region. The rapid actions by the government assisted in lowering the virus numbers. Besides this, a state of emergency was also implied for six months to reduce any gatherings. 

Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris also received the vaccine in February to encourage others to participate in the country’s immunization drive. No virus related deaths have been recorded in the country even though it is fully open for tourism since October 2020.