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Basseterre, St. Kitts, November 04, 2020 (SKNIS): Prime Minister, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, who also serves as CARICOM Head for health and related issues participated in the 2^nd ACT-Accelerator Facilitation Council Meeting on November 03, 2020. The meeting focused on how the global response to secure COVID-19 tools can be accelerated.

During the November 03 edition of ‘Leadership Matters’, a virtual forum on ZIZ TV, Prime Minister Harris used the opportunity to briefly update the general public on the discussion.

“There has been a significant mobilization of resources to defeat COVID-19 through equitable access to vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics and the strengthening of our health systems.  I was heartened to learn that a portfolio of safe and efficacious vaccines can be available by March 2021, should the global community mobilize adequate resources to close the financing gap,” said Prime Minister Harris. “We are cautiously optimistic.  St Kitts and Nevis has taken proactive steps to pay in advance to secure our access to a reliable portfolio of vaccines as soon as they are available.”

Prime Minister Harris said that economies, lives, businesses, and the global community will continue to be negatively impacted once an accessible pharmaceutical option is found.

He noted that the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis continues to work to jumpstart the economy, as well as ensure the safety and security of all.

“My Government continues to engage all of society as we seek to chart an all-inclusive plan to restore our economy to the strong position it was before COVID-19 and thereafter to ensure that our economy is put in such good health that it can contribute to the stronger and safer future,” he said. “Your Government will remain focus and agile in the face of the vicissitudes of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Your best interest is our primary concern. Working together, we can defeat COVID-19 and from this commitment, we cannot shirk.”

Information from the World Health Organization’s Website said that the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator, which was launched at the end of April 2020, brings together governments, scientists, businesses, civil society, and philanthropists and global health organizations.