Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley is lobbying for a vaccine plant to be established in the country.
Speaking to reporters following the opening of the 15th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on Monday, Mottley reiterated her call for global equity in the distribution of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines. She expressed that she does not believe it is impossible for the island nation to establish a vaccine plant, pointing out that if the COVID-19 pandemic is to be conquered, vaccines need to be readily available across the world.
“The pandemic will finish when we decide as a people globally that it must finish and until such time we will continue to have persons affected by it and we are in the race against early mutations and variants that may well be worse than what we see in Delta which is bad enough,” she shared. “We can only ask that all of our actions move to a point of vaccine equity and we can only ask that there also be an urgency about identifying locations such as ours (Barbados) and others in other parts of the world to become locations for the manufacturing and or bottling of vaccines so as to ensure a more ready capacity to those most in need.”
“I do not accept that it is impossible for vaccine and manufacturing and bottling plants to be available throughout every region in this world to ensure the shortest distance to people’s arms,” she continued. “If we can achieve that and if we can work to that in UNCTAD then I believe that can only lay the foundation for the conquering of this pandemic.”
She said a manufacturing or bottling plant would do well not only for the COVID-19 pandemic but for any pandemic or future needs for pharmaceuticals.