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The Opposition Leader is calling on government to engage all stakeholders and the opposition UNC to form a united front to fight Covid19.
In a release, she said 196 families and counting have lost loved ones because of abject mismanagement and the failure of the Keith Rowley government.
She said vaccination is the only way out of the pandemic, but the government had failed to act swiftly to procure vaccines.
“The Government failed to request a gift of vaccines from the Indian Government as other nations in the Caribbean did. Rowley did so only after being pressured. His claim of waiting for WHO to approve AstraZeneca vaccines makes no sense, as we gladly accepted a donation of 2,000 vaccines from Barbados. The Rowley government further failed to swiftly purchase vaccines from Pfizer earlier this year when an offer of 351,000 vaccines was put on the table for US$8.4 million. Government went cap in hand to the private sector and when Ansa McAl offered to foot the bill and pay for the entire Pfizer batch in exchange for a tax concession – the government refused. It is baffling that Rowley is now saying Pfizer vaccines were not available for purchase.
"Did the Government refuse to buy vaccines for the population because it was waiting for 100,000 vaccines from China? Our citizens would not be dying today and our hospitals would not be running out of space had Government put the people first and bought the vaccines. Over a year into the pandemic the Prime Minister is now looking to gift the people banana, sweet potatoes, dasheen and squash when action should have been taken early to procure vaccines.”
Referring to remarks made during the Prime Minister’s media conference on Friday, Kamla Persad-Bissessar said that the Prime Minister kept using the false narrative that small nations are unable to obtain vaccines.
“That is a lie. Barbados, with a population of 287,000, have given 75,300 jabs to its population to date. The Prime Minister also lied when he said vaccines are not available for purchase and the Government had a "cheque in hand" to make purchases. El Salvador with just over six million people inked a contract to purchase 4.4 million vaccines for its people. Just this Wednesday, Peru's Prime Minister announced plans to get 12 million additional vaccines from Pfizer. Prime Minister Rowley said he didn't want to beg for vaccines, and it is clear now that he was simply waiting for donations to be thrown our way as our people become casualties.”
She said while the UNC is grateful for vaccines gifted to TT, the reality is the government failed to be proactive in the mission to vaccinate.
“Accusing the population of being irresponsible is deflecting blame from poor leadership. The Government members and all medical personnel present in the press conference today have been in charge of the country’s covid19 response since February 2020 and we are no better off today. It is time they accept help from the wider society and stop blaming citizens for their failure to manage this crisis. We cannot continue with the same persons who have made no progress since February 2020. This is a time for humility and not a time for arrogance.”
Persad-Bissessar said the UNC and many stakeholders have been trying to assist since the beginning of this crisis, but the Government has pursued its own way. She called on the government to engage all stakeholders and the Opposition UNC to form a united front to fight covid19.
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