Given the fact that COVID-19 vaccines manufactured in the United States have begun to be shipped to various countries around the world, the Dominican government has assured all citizens that it will be available to all once it gets to the country. Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said it will be available for free to most people, but those who can afford to pay for it will be made to do so.
Skerrit said the DLP administration has been working with international bodies to acquire a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine for some time, and that Dominica will obtain the vaccine from the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and another global health institution.
He said the unnamed international group will provide COVID-19 vaccine to cover about 20% of Dominica’s population, and that the World Bank will provide financing for vaccines to cover 50% of the population, while PAHO will provide the vaccines to 25% of the population. The 20% vaccine to be sourced from the international organization will be paid for by the government.
According to the prime minister, the vaccine will be available to everyone in the country but it will only be administered to people who are willing to receive it. He stated that people who can afford it will have to pay for it, while it will remain free for the generality of the population.
“Obviously it will be by choice, but 100 percent of our population will have access to this,” Skerrit said. “Those of us who can pay something will have to pay something, but I believe we will keep it consistent with our policy on health where everybody 18 years and younger gets free medical care and everybody 60 and older gets free medical care. If somebody gives it to us for free, we are not going to sell it to Dominicans.”
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