Following government’s announcement of a deal for 40,000 Astra-Zeneca vaccines from India, the Opposition United National Congress has welcomed the news, saying it was “pleased at the fruit of our tireless efforts to ensure that Trinidad and Tobago gets vaccinated quickly.”

In a statement on Tuesday, the party’s Public Relations Officer Kirk Meighoo wrote: “The Opposition has fulfilled its role of taking up the slack left by this heartless, arrogant and destructive Government.”

“Just last week Keith Rowley insulted our CARICOM neighbours, calling them ‘beggars’, to hide his and Terrence Deyalsingh’s negligence and inaction.”

The Opposition has long criticized what it referred to as government’s lackadaisical approach to procuring vaccines to begin rollout. 

In February, Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar wrote to Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, requesting a gift of vaccines. 

She was largely criticized, with Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Amery Browne accusing her of improperly inserting herself into diplomatic conversations in an effort to claim victory when T&T was approved for a vaccine donation. 

Over the past few weeks there has been a row over the vaccines, with Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley claiming his government had not been offered the gift.

“The first I heard about any vaccine from India, I heard about it from local doctors who were spoken to by the Indian High Commissioner, who did not speak to the government of Trinidad and Tobago. The second I heard about it was from Trinidad and Tobago businessmen who were seeking to make arrangements to bring vaccines into the country,” the PM said last Thursday.