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St. Kitts and Nevis officials focus on economic recovery

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — As the vaccination of citizens and residents against the Novel Coronavirus continues across St. Kitts and Nevis, Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris said his Team Unity administration is now shifting its attention to returning the Federation to its strong pre-COVID-19 economic position.

Prior to the arrival of the first two cases of the virus into the Federation, St. Kitts and Nevis stood as an example of a well-managed small island state.

“The prolonged impact of the pandemic will continue throughout 2021, affecting countries at varying levels, but there is reason for optimism,” said Hon. Harris. “For St. Kitts and Nevis, despite the estimated deep contraction in economic activity in 2020, the economic outlook is forecast to be modest with an estimated growth of 5.5 percent in 2021 and 5.0 percent in 2022.”

Dr. Harris indicated that his administration has implemented a fiscal strategy for the medium term (2021 to 2023), where one of the objectives is to facilitate recovery and reignite the economy by adopting a pro-growth approach to the development and execution of the capital budget for 2021 and beyond.

“We expect that the key sectors that will drive our economic recovery will include construction, manufacturing, agriculture, ICT and services including tourism,” said Dr. Harris. “Notably, construction activity, which generally contributes about 16 percent to GDP, would be positively impacted by ongoing projects such as the resurfacing of the island main road and residential construction. The construction of other major projects including the solar farm, the new Basseterre High School and health centres around the island is also expected to contribute to the projected growth in 2021.”

According to Dr. Harris, his Team Unity Government is taking every necessary measure to help rebuild the economy by continuing to provide support to various sectors through the provision of tax incentives and other financial and policy-based support.

“Examples of these will include the First Time Homeowners initiative whereby duty-free concessions are provided on materials each year,” said Dr. Harris. “Up to February 2021, duty free was provided on residential building materials totalling $4.6 million. Tax exemptions on building materials and equipment were also provided for larger non-residential projects. We have the Government Employees Mortgage programme and the Citizens Mortgage Facility all being executed through the Development Bank.”

Dr. Harris urged citizens and residents to take the COVID-19 vaccine as “the vaccination programmes put us further along the path to recovery in St. Kitts and Nevis.”

Financial Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Hilary Hazel.

Financial Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Hilary Hazel, said she expects the world economy to have economic growth of 5.5 percent in 2021 as the world in the process of opening back up and returning to a state of pre-COVID normalcy.

“In the United States, it is expected that that region will grow 5.1 percent,” said Ms. Hazel. “This is essential for us here in the Caribbean.

“We expect Latin America and the Caribbean region to grow by 4.1 percent and for us here in the Federation,” said Ms. Hazel. “This is consistent with all the projections made by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank for the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union economies, which are expected to return positive growth in 2021.”

Ms. Hazel predicted that the tourism sector would continue to be slow with prospects for better performances in the 2022 and 2023 tourism season.

“There are still relatively high levels of uncertainty in relation to the prospects of recovery,” said Ms. Hazel. “The prospects are much more improved for 2021 as opposed to the experiences in 2020.

“We are expecting that the negative experiences that we have had, in terms of the construction sector which saw a -16.5 percent growth in 2020,” she said. “In 2021, we are expecting a rebound of this sector which will grow by 8.9 percent and thereby contribute in the vicinity of 14 percent to our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“The Financial Intermediation Sector is expected to grow by 2.9 percent and contribute around 12 percent to GDP,” said Ms. Hazel. “Our real estate and business services sector is expected to grow by 2.8 percent and contribute around 10 percent to GDP.

“Public Administration in 2020 was the only sector to experience positive growth around 3.8 percent and in 2021 we expect this sector to grow by 4.3 percent again contributing around 10 percent to GDP.

“The education sector which also includes our offshore education facilities would be expected to grow by 5.1 percent and contribute around 8 percent to GDP,” concluded Ms. Hazel. “In terms of our economic recovery, the pathway rests heavily on our ability to have government, businesses and the general public, finding a way to coexist with COVID-19.”

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US Homeland Security Will Decide Whether to Extend Temp. Protected Status for Haitians

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration has declined to comment on whether Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will be extended for Haitians.

“By law, TPS designations are made by the Department of Homeland Security after consultation with the appropriate agencies,” State Department spokesperson Ned Price told VOA. “So, we wouldn’t want to comment on any sort of internal deliberations when it comes to TPS.”

TPS is a designation made by the secretary of homeland security to individuals from countries severely impacted by natural disasters or armed conflicts. It allows beneficiaries to live and work in the United States for a period of time.

The TPS status Haitians currently hold was enacted by the Obama administration on January 21, 2010, nine days after a massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake hit the island nation, killing at least 250,000 people and displacing 5 million others.

In October 2020, then-candidate Joe Biden made a campaign stop in the Little Haiti neighborhood of Miami, Florida, where he courted the Haitian-American vote and promised to act on an immigration issue high on their list of priorities, the TPS program.

More than 55,000 Haitians are enrolled in the program, according to the National Immigration Forum.

The Trump administration had planned to end TPS in September 2021. But the Department of Homeland Security issued a Federal Register notice on December 9, 2020, announcing that TPS beneficiaries from Haiti would retain their status through October 4, 2021.

Biden’s Department of Homeland Security secretary, Alejandro Mayorkas, who is Cuban-American, was confirmed by the Senate on Feb. 2. He made history as the first Latino and first immigrant to hold that position.

Haiti’s ambassador to the United States, Bocchit Edmond
Bocchit Edmond, Haiti’s ambassador to the United States. (Twitter)

Haiti’s position

Haiti’s ambassador to the U.S., Bocchit Edmond, has called on the Biden administration to work with Congress to find a solution.

“We do hope that the Biden administration, with the help of the U.S. Congress, will find a final resolution to this very sensitive issue impacting a number of Haitians. The human impact should be considered,” Edmond told VOA. “The Embassy of Haiti will continue to work with U.S. officials as we advocate for Haitians in the United States.”

Prominent Haitian immigration advocate reaction

Reacting to the State Department’s stance on TPS, the Miami-based Family Action Network Movement (FANM), a grassroots immigration advocacy group, called on the Biden administration to act quickly.

“This is something FANM has been advocating for, along with other immigrant rights organizations. The time to do this is now,” Marleine Bastien, executive director of FANM, told VOA.

Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holder Kerlyne Paraison, foreground, of Haiti, holds up a sign as she demonstrates during a…
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) holder Kerlyne Paraison, foreground, of Haiti, holds up a sign as she demonstrates during a rally for a permanent solution for TPS holders in front of the Citizenship And Immigration Services Field Office.

What’s happening in Haiti?

Haiti has battled political turmoil and a spike in violent crime over the past year. President Jovenel Moise is at odds with members of the opposition about when his term expires. He plans to step down on February 7, 2022, when a newly elected president takes power. But the opposition cites an article in the Haitian constitution that states Moise’s term should have ended on February 7, 2021.

Moise was sworn in on February 7, 2017, for a five-year term after winning a 2016 presidential election. That vote was a re-do after the 2015 election results were annulled over fraud allegations.

The U.S. and much of the international community back Moise’s claim that his term will end next year.

However, both the Trump and Biden administrations have repeatedly criticized Moise for ruling by decree since January 2020, when two-thirds of the parliament’s terms expired. They have also called on him to organize elections as soon as possible.

The United Nations, the Organization of American States and the European Union have expressed the same concerns.

Moise defended his decision not to organize elections last year, citing the pandemic, a crippling economic crisis, a spike in violent crimes and “peyi lok,” a series of massive anti-government protests that halted operations of businesses, schools and transportation.

Moise announced in February that a constitutional referendum was planned for April and legislative and presidential elections would be held in September.

A demonstrator takes part in a march during a protest against Haiti's President Jovenel Moise, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti…
A demonstrator takes part in a march during a protest against Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti February 14, 2021. REUTERS/Jeanty Junior Augustin TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY

New wave of asylum seekers?

Asked by VOA if the current political instability in Haiti could cause more Haitians to seek asylum in the U.S., the State Department’s Price did not give a direct answer.

“What I would say is that it is the responsibility of Haiti’s government to organize elections in 2021 that are free, that are fair, that are credible,” Price told VOA. “We join the international community in calling Haitian stakeholders to come together to find a way forward. What we have said is that the Haitian people deserve the opportunity to elect their leaders and to restore Haiti’s democratic institutions.”

Nike Ching at the State Department and Elizabeth Lee in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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National gender policy action plan moving forward

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Department of Gender Affairs in the Ministry of Social Development is moving forward with the development of a St. Kitts and Nevis National Gender Equality Policy and Action Plan, according to Sharon Warner, Executive Officer in the Department of Gender Affairs.

She said the intended outcome for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization-funded project is “the development of a well-informed, comprehensive National Gender Equality Policy and Action Plan as an institutional framework that will assist the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis in facilitating gender equality and empowerment.”

“This policy is in support of the Sustainable Development Goal #5 -Gender Equality,” said Ms. Warner. “This will include the establishment of public oversight bodies and ministerial corporation structures.

“The policy will include guidance towards the implementation of gender based and sensitive strategies both in the public and private sector in an effort to protect the human rights of citizens and residents, said Ms. Warner. “This would therefore serve to ensure that the rights and interests of men and women are at the core of the country’s development agenda, which is envisaged to contribute significantly to positive, life-changing, measurable outcomes in the lives of citizens.”

“The Department of Gender Affairs is committed to ensuring that both males and females are equal partners in shaping the economical, educational, political, cultural and spiritual development of the Federation,” she said. “The department remains steadfast in its commitment towards fostering an environment that enables women and men to enjoy their full rights as equal partners in contributing to the overall development of the Federation.

“The Gender Policy is a two-year project,” she said. “Phase one was successfully completed in December 2019. It is comprised of widespread consultations, public awareness and advocacy activities, which included the collection of qualitative stakeholder data through discussions, focus groups and round table meetings, which formed a significant component of the process.”

The Department has now entered the second and final phase of the project, which will run through December 2021.

“The St. Kitts and Nevis National Gender Equality Policy and Action Plan is intended to guide the transformation process towards gender equality and equity for all citizens and residents of the Federation,” said Ms. Warner.

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UN: 38 Killed on Deadliest Day for Myanmar Coup Opposition

YANGON, Myanmar (AP) — Myanmar security forces were seen firing slingshots at protesters, chasing them down and even brutally beating an ambulance crew in video showing a dramatic escalation of violence against opponents of last month’s military coup.

A U.N. official speaking from Switzerland said 38 people had been killed Wednesday, a figure consistent with other reports though accounts are difficult to confirm inside the country. The increasingly deadly violence could galvanize the international community, which has responded fitfully so far.

“Today it was the bloodiest day since the coup happened on Feb. 1. We have today — only today — 38 people died. We have now more than over 50 people died since the coup started” and more have been wounded, the U.N. special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, told reporters at U.N. headquarters on Wednesday.

Demonstrators have regularly flooded the streets of cities across the country since the military seized power and ousted the elected government of leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Their numbers have remained high even as security forces have repeatedly fired tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to disperse the crowds, and arrested protesters en masse.

The intensifying standoff is unfortunately familiar in a country with a long history of peaceful resistance to military rule — and brutal crackdowns. The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in the Southeast Asian nation after five decades of military rule.

The Democratic Voice of Burma, an independent television and online news service, also tallied 38 deaths. A toll of at least 34 was compiled by a data analyst in Yangon, Myanmar’s biggest city, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared for his safety. He also collected information where he could on the victims’ names, ages, hometowns, and where and how they were killed — an effort he said he had made to honor those who were killed for their heroic resistance.

The Associated Press was unable to independently confirm most of the reported deaths, but several square with online postings.

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According to the data analyst’s list, most were in Yangon, where 18 died. In the central city of Monywa, which has turned out huge crowds, eight deaths were reported. Three deaths were reported in Mandalay, the country’s second-biggest city, and two in Salin, a town in Magwe region. Mawlamyine, in the country’s southeast, and Myingyan and Kalay, both in central Myanmar, each had a single death.

As part of the crackdown, security forces have also arrested hundreds of people, including journalists. On Saturday, at least eight journalists, including Thein Zaw of The Associated Press, were detained. A video showed he had moved out of the way as police charged down a street at protesters, but then was seized by police officers, who handcuffed him and held him briefly in a chokehold before marching him away.

He has been charged with violating a public safety law that could see him imprisoned for up to three years.

The escalation of the crackdown has led to increased diplomatic efforts to resolve Myanmar’s political crisis — but there appear to be few viable options. It’s not yet clear if Wednesday’s soaring death toll could change the dynamic.

The U.N. Security Council is expected to hold a closed meeting on the situation on Friday, council diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to make the information public before the official announcement. The United Kingdom requested the meeting, they said.

Still, any kind of coordinated action at the United Nations will be difficult since two permanent members of the Security Council, China and Russia, would almost certainly veto it. Some countries have imposed or are considering imposing their own sanctions.

The U.N. special envoy, Schraner Burgener, who supports sanctions, said she receives some 2,000 messages per day from people inside Myanmar, many “who are really desperate to see action from the international community.”

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which includes Myanmar, issued a statement after a teleconference meeting of foreign ministers Tuesday that merely called for an end to violence and for talks on how to reach a peaceful settlement. ASEAN has a tradition of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.

Ignoring that appeal, Myanmar’s security forces have continued to attack peaceful protesters.

In addition to the deaths, there have been reports of other violence. In Yangon, a widely circulated video taken from a security camera showed police in the city brutally beating members of an ambulance crew — apparently after they were arrested. Police can be seen kicking the three crew members and thrashing them with rifle butts.

Security forces are believed to single out medical workers for arrest and mistreatment because members of the medical profession launched the country’s civil disobedience movement to resist the junta.

In Mandalay, riot police, backed by soldiers, broke up a rally and chased around 1,000 teachers and students from a street with tear gas as gun shots could be heard.

Video from the AP showed a squad of police firing slingshots in the apparent direction of demonstrators as they dispersed.

___

Associated Press writer Edith M. Lederer at U.N. headquarters in New York contributed to this report.

___

This story has been updated to correct that there has been a report of one death in Myingyan, not two.

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PAHO Outlines COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout for Latin America, Caribbean

By // 03 March 2021

Bolivia, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua are set to receive the next COVID-19 vaccine distributions to Latin America from the COVAX project, Pan American Health Organization Director Carissa Etienne said Wednesday.

Two of those countries, El Salvador and Bolivia, are part of the World Health Organization’s First Wave initiative, a global pilot program that delivers a limited number of doses of the vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech to countries as part of the quota allotted by COVAX. Colombia and Peru are also participating.

“PAHO is working virtually with every country in our region to address pending documentation and requirements. As countries are ready … orders will be placed on a daily basis. These shipments are the first of many, and all member states will continue to be supplied as more vaccines become available,” Etienne said.

She said that through May, PAHO expects 28.7 million doses to arrive in the region, where 36 countries are participating in COVAX, the global equitable vaccine access platform. According to WHO, the region will need to vaccinate approximately 700 million people to control the pandemic.

After COVAX announced country allocations last week, the first doses sent to Latin America and the Caribbean arrived in Colombia on Monday. Those 117,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are just the beginning of the 20 million that Colombia anticipates receiving from COVAX this year. The country began its vaccination campaign last week with shots obtained through bilateral agreements.

Etienne said Peru should be receiving its doses shortly.

“Expanding equitable access to COVID vaccines in the Americas must … be a global priority. PAHO is committed to ensuring that our region receives the doses that we need as quickly as possible.”

— Carissa Etienne, director, Pan American Health Organization

The Americas have been hit harder by COVID-19 than any other region in the world, with 1.2 million deaths and more than 50 million confirmed cases.

In addition to Pfizer’s, shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccine will begin to arrive in Latin America and the Caribbean this month through COVAX, WHO said. The first phase of COVAX distribution in the region will provide countries with enough doses to vaccinate between 2.2% and 2.6% of their total population — excluding small island states, which will receive enough to cover 16% to 20% of their population because of the logistical cost of small vaccine deliveries.

Etienne encouraged countries to prioritize people for vaccine distribution based on risk factors, putting health care workers, older people, and those with preexisting conditions at the front of the line. She said the region will see the same challenge with vaccines that countries have faced in obtaining other supplies during the pandemic; demand has often outstripped supply for items such as personal protective equipment, tests, and oxygen.

“Manufacturers are working around the clock to produce more doses and new vaccine candidates being reviewed and included in the WHO emergency use listing so that more vaccines will be hopefully available soon. But we expect that the world will continue to face a shortage of vaccines for much of 2021,” Etienne said. “As more doses are produced, we’ll see several waves of shipments arriving in the region every month. In the short term, doses will remain limited, and we must use them wisely.”

Latin America no longer region with most COVID-19 cases

After Europe overtook Latin America and the Caribbean in coronavirus cases, Pan American Health Organization Director Carissa Etienne said the region must not relax measures to combat community spread.

Despite the fact that 55% of the world’s COVID-19 deaths over the past week were recorded in Latin America and the Caribbean, Etienne said, the region is lagging behind in vaccination efforts because many countries cannot access doses through bilateral agreements with manufacturers.

Some countries also need to pass legislation to meet COVAX requirements, ensure import licenses and regulations are in place, and make payments to receive their doses through the facility, she said. Once PAHO receives purchase order information from Geneva, it works with countries to ensure these administrative requirements are in place. Then orders can be signed and countries can prepare for delivery.

Etienne called on countries to make sure that vaccine allocation within their borders is equitable and that doses are not immediately used on the privileged. Distribution plans must be transparent and address geographic and socioeconomic disparities, she said.

“If only a few are vaccinated, many will remain at risk. And this is not the outcome that we are working towards. So now we must do everything in our power to protect those most vulnerable everywhere,” Etienne said. “Expanding equitable access to COVID vaccines in the Americas must therefore be a global priority. PAHO is committed to ensuring that our region receives the doses that we need as quickly as possible.”

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US: QAnon Threat Prompts Rushed Exit for Congress Members

Alarming revelations of threats to the Capitol and members of Congress prompted House Democratic leaders to wrap up their legislative work for the week on Wednesday night, underscoring the security concerns that remain nearly two months after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

The immediate threat is intelligence related to a possible plot by a militia group to attack Athe Capitol on Thursday. Followers of the QAnon conspiracy theory believe former President Trump will be reinaugurated on March 4, a traditional date for presidential inaugurations until 1933. Capitol Police said they were enhancing their security posture in response to the threat.

The House had been scheduled to be in session to vote on a police reform bill. But Democratic lawmakers and aides confirmed that the House would instead take up the police legislation on Wednesday night, along with a sweeping voting rights and election overhaul package, in response to the threat outlined by Capitol Police.

The Senate, meanwhile, is still expected to be in session on Thursday to consider the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief package.

The new threat came as lawmakers learned more about the ugly mob attack on the Capitol that left physical and psychological scars on Capitol Hill.

In the Senate, the head of the D.C. National Guard testified that the Pentagon slow-walked efforts to deploy troops to respond to the Jan. 6 insurrection, underscoring the need for major changes to security protocols.

Acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman testified before members of the House Appropriations Committee that threats to members of Congress are “through the roof.”

Pittman said that threats have increased by 93.5 percent in the first two months of 2021 compared to the same period a year ago.

She also told a House Appropriations subcommittee that the intelligence related to the QAnon threat is “concerning” but assured lawmakers that “we are prepared to respond appropriately.”

Questions have lingered about the inadequate security preparations ahead of the Jan. 6 incident.

D.C. National Guard chief William Walker testified at a Senate hearing that he could have had another 150 National Guard members to the Capitol within 20 minutes on Jan. 6, but he was hamstrung by an “unusual” letter from the Pentagon’s higher ups.

Walker said a Jan. 5 letter from then-Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy, an appointee of former President Trump, restricted his ability to deploy the Quick Reaction Force without approval. The entire process of activating the guard took more than three hours that day.

“I would have sent them there immediately as soon as I hung up,” Walker told lawmakers on the Senate Rules Committee and Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee when asked how he would have responded if he did not need to seek approval.

“My next call would have been to my subordinate commanders, to get every single guardsman in this building and everybody that’s helping the Metropolitan Police … to the Capitol, without delay,” he said.

While the exchange is renewing focus on Pentagon leaders, it also reinforces concern from lawmakers that the Capitol Police Board, composed of both the House and Senate sergeants-at-arms and the Architect of the Capitol, hindered security efforts leading up to the attack.

Senate Rules Committee Chairwoman Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) laid the blame for the anarchy at the feet of the former House and Senate sergeants-at-arms, who have both since resigned.

“The decision to reinforce local police with the National Guard was not made ahead of time,” she said, referring to their testimony in the first hearing the committees held on the attack.

“Now that decision was made – or maybe I should say, rather, not made – by the former House and Senate sergeant-at-arms,” she said.

The FBI is warning of elevated threats of violence from domestic terrorism into 2022.

“We expect racially or ethnically motivated and violent extremists and anti-government, anti-authority violent extremists will very likely pose the greatest domestic terrorism threats throughout 2021, and in fact leading into 2022,” Jill Sanborn, the bureau’s assistant director of the counterterrorism division, told senators.

Under the Capitol Police’s budget request for the next fiscal year, outlined on Wednesday, there would be 111 dignitary protection agents assigned to individual high-profile members of Congress facing greater threats and 20 more intelligence analysts.

Pittman is requesting a $107 million budget increase, which would help hire 212 more officers while paying for extra security equipment.

The police chief described strains on a force that has new duties. As an example, she cited the nine House impeachment managers who prosecuted Trump’s impeachment last month, saying they now have security details accompanying them wherever they go.

Capitol Police previously only had regular security details for members of congressional leadership and had to borrow agents from those teams to protect the House impeachment managers.

Overall, threats against lawmakers have spiked dramatically during the Trump era as partisan tensions worsened. Pittman testified that there has been a nearly 119 percent increase in total threats between 2017 and 2020.

In the Senate, lawmakers pushed the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to better inform Capitol Security of potential threats, following a Jan. 5 report from the FBI’s Norfolk, Va., office that detailed specific calls for violence on Jan. 6, including those that suggested protesters go to the Capitol “ready for war.”

However, top officials with the Capitol Police and the FBI itself have since said they were not aware of the report until after the incident.

The FBI has since characterized the report as raw, unverified intelligence as lawmakers have pressed leadership on why the bureau didn’t work harder to ensure the information would be delivered to those doing security planning.

Lawmakers also complained that FBI and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) need to redouble their efforts to address domestic terrorism.

“I understand the FBI and the DHS’s commitment today to doing better in their intelligence collection and monitoring this threat, which I appreciate,” said Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Gary Peters (D-Mich.). “But we need to actually see these improvements. It has to be demonstrated in a meaningful way. It’s not enough for agencies to simply promise to do better.”

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2,085 people vaccinated; priority group requirement no longer necessary

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — To date, 2,085 persons in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis have received their first dose of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine, according to Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hazel Laws.

In week one of the rollout, on February 22, 1,356 people were vaccinated. On March 3 alone, 729 persons received their vaccine. Dr. Laws said that she was proud to be in that batch.

“To date, we have vaccinated 2,085 people in the Federation,” she said. “We have reached 6.3 percent of our target population just in a matter of nine days.”

“More persons are making an informed decision to take the vaccine,” said Dr. Laws. If people have a cold or are experiencing respiratory tract infection and have a fever, they should postpone their vaccination. If a person is pregnant or breastfeeding she should also postpone getting the vaccine.”

People eligible to receive the vaccine should be between 18- and 80-years of age. If anyone has an allergic reaction to any of the components of the vaccine, they should not take it.

People are asked to visit their nearest health centre if they want to receive the vaccine irrespective of the priority group.

“On Monday, we will have received an additional 20,000 doses of the vaccine,” concluded Dr. Laws. :”We are no longer adhering to the priority groups as we explained last week. Irrespective of the priority group that you are in, if you are ready and have read information about the vaccine, you can make an informed decision. Then, they can go to the nearest health centre to access the vaccine. You do not even have to call 311. Just go to the nearest health centre.”

Dr. Laws said that after having their first shot, people would be given an appointment to come back in 10 weeks for the second dose.

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Loved ones mourn 'beautiful people' killed in WA light plane crash

There are tributes tonight for a much-loved couple killed in a joy flight tragedy at Exmouth in Western Australia.

The pilot, Mal Watts, and his wife, Samantha Nuttall, failed to return late on Wednesday, the aircraft coming down just kilometres from the town's aerodrome.

It had been during a romantic flight above the canyon, which the couple had done many times before, when tragedy struck.

They were out on their privately-owned microlight plane when something went horribly wrong.

The aircraft's wreckage was spotted form the air, police on ground forced to hike to the crash site.

The tragedy has rocked the Exmouth community.

READ MORE: 'Streets like rivers': WA towns swamped by ongoing deluge

"Exmouth is coming to terms with the devastating loss of such a well-known, well-respected, and much-loved long-time local couple," Shire President Matthew Niikkula said.

Friends have taken to social media to pay tribute, describing the pair as "two genuinely beautiful people who lived life to the absolute full".

Investigators are trying to piece together how the tragedy happened.

Exmouth light plane crash