Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Minister Dr. Amery Browne on Wednesday chaired a meeting among CARICOM member countries, the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the United States Covid-19 response team, with a view to finalize vaccine arrangements for the region.

A statement from the Foreign Affairs Ministry said there was a renewed commitment by the regional leaders to continue working extensively with the U.S. Government to hasten the acquisition process, fulfilling all the necessary requirements to receive the vaccine donations in the  shortest possible time.

Key attendees were Foreign Ministers Chet Greene (Antigua and Barbuda), Senator Dr. Jerome Walcott (Barbados), Senator Eamon Courtney (Belize) and Mark Brantley (St. Kitts and Nevis); Ambassador Irwin LaRocque, CARICOM Secretary-General; Dr. Joy St. John, Executive Director, CARPHA; Dr. Hilary Marston, M.D., M.P.H., Medical Officer and Policy Advisor for Pandemic Preparedness of the Office of the Chief of Staff of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; Colonel Matt Clark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Mr. Machmud Makhmudov, Policy Advisor, Office of COVID Response, the White House.