Economic Times– The Federation of St Kitts and Nevis is the first in the region to reach a vital vaccination milestone. As of now, over 72 percent of the adult population and over eight percent of the target population of children between 12 to 17 years are fully vaccinated. This exceeds the World Health Organisation (WHO)’s benchmark of ensuring 40 percent of a country’s population is vaccinated.
The high vaccination rate is an essential milestone for the Federation as the virus continues to wreak havoc in the health and economic sectors around the world, said the country’s medical official Dr Cameron Wilkinson.
“Earlier this year, [St Kitts and Nevis was] recognised as the nation with the lowest risk of COVID-19 in this part of the hemisphere, and we can earn that recognition again once we continue to increase vaccination coverage and use non-pharmaceutical products to protect us,” he added.
To strengthen the country’s health sector and fight the pandemic, the government has spent over EC$18 million (US$6.7 million), said Prime Minister Timothy Harris last month.
He also said that the country would spend an additional EC$5 million (US$1.85 million) on such health initiatives by the end of the year, bringing the government’s total COVID-related expenditure to more than EC$23 million (US$8.5 million).
As a small island nation, a large part of St Kitts and Nevis’ economy relies on tourism revenue. When COVID-19 spurred international border closures and lockdowns, bringing tourism to a halt, important initiatives like Poverty Alleviation Programme.
“St Kitts and Nevis entered the Covid-19 pandemic from a position of fiscal strength following nearly a decade of budget surpluses. A significant part of the large CBI revenues was prudently saved, reducing public debt below the regional debt target of 60 percent of GDP and supporting accumulation of large government deposits,” a recent IMF report stated.
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