BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — St. Kitts and Nevis received its first 2,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines last week, and by the end of this month the Federation is expected to receive an additional 21,600 doses as a result of its participation in the COVID-19 Global Access (COVAX) Facility.

The Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) has pledged $600,000 to assist St. Kitts and Nevis in procuring extra vaccines, while the Government of India and other allies have expressed their willingness to aid the Federation in the form of vaccine donations.

The Ministry of Health is now making final preparations for the roll out of its mass vaccination programme that will encompass frontline workers and the ordinary citizens and residents of St. Kitts and Nevis.

“These additional donations from multiple sources will enhance our ability to roll out our mass vaccination programme. Our health professionals have worked to establish a vaccination plan to immunize not only our frontline and essential workers, but every citizen and resident in due course,” said Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris in a national address on February 13.

Recommendations from international health-based institutions, such as the World Health Organization, were taken into consideration for the Government’s vaccination plan. It is anticipated that frontline workers will be vaccinated first followed by vulnerable persons. Vulnerable persons include individuals suffering from multiple morbidities and other chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.

Over the past several weeks, health professionals in St. Kitts and Nevis have been assuring citizens and residents that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe to take.
Dr. Harris reiterated this in his address to the nation on Saturday. He said, “I encourage everyone to think seriously about their health and the important contribution vaccines can play in preserving our health and wellness.”

It is the intention of the St. Kitts and Nevis Government to have at least 70 percent of the population vaccinated against the virus, which, according to Dr. Harris, will lead to herd immunity in the Federation.

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With the first batch of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines already in the Federation courtesy of the Commonwealth of Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis will be expecting to receive more from the Indian government later this month before its share from COVAX.

Saturday, in an address to the nation, Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis Dr Timothy Harris confirmed that the Federation received 2,000 doses of vaccine last week, courtesy of the Government of the Commonwealth of Dominica.

“Our first batch of vaccines has arrived in the Federation and will soon be in the arms of our frontline workers and other priority groups as determined by our healthcare professionals.”

The Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines from Dominica arrived in the Federation late last week via Regional Security System Aircraft that also made similar trips to Antigua and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

Under the Vaccine Maitri initiative, India on February 8, dispatched two separate shipments of domestically manufactured vaccines to Barbados and Dominica. The COVID-19 vials, manufactured by the Serum Institute of India.

Last week, the Governments of Barbados and Dominica received 100,000 and 70,000 vaccine doses from India with both jurisdictions promising to share with Caribbean counterparts.

PM Harris on Saturday said that they were also seeking vaccine assistance from India and other allies while the Republic of China (Taiwan) has pledged $600,000.00 to procure extra vaccines.

However, other Caribbean territories stand to benefit from the agreement with the Indian government who are expected to distribute 350,000 doses to the remaining Caribbean territories. St. Kitts and Nevis according to reports stand to benefit from around 20,000 of those vaccines.

He added that the Director of the COVAX Office confirmed that the Federation is set to receive 21,600 doses of vaccine by the end of this month under that facility.

He said that health officials in St. Kitts and Nevis aim to achieve herd immunity in the Federation by having more than 70% of the population immunized against the virus.

“I am certain that we will be successful in running this last leg of the race against COVID-19 and see our Nation return to some sense of normalcy in the near future and the return of more economic activity. We have been successful so far to strike a delicate balance between saving lives and preserving livelihoods. We are now pivoting to getting everyone back to work, but this must be done in a careful and safe manner.”

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In an effort to get people travelling again, Palace Resorts are offering hotel guests a free 14-night stay should they test positive for Covid-19.

With 10 hotels across some of Mexico and Jamaica’s most picturesque destinations, Palace Resorts is known for its luxury all-inclusive resorts.

Since the pandemic, each of the hotels have introduced strict new safety procedures at properties in Cancun, Cozumel, Isla Mujeres, Playa del Carmen, Los Cabos and Ocho Rios. Similar measures have also been introduced at the brand’s adults-only spa properties, Le Blanc Spa Resort in Cancun and Los Cabos.

These measures now include free on-site Covid-19 testing for any guests that want to take a test before checking out.

Any travellers who opt to take the test and receive a positive result will be able to quarantine for free at their hotel for up to two weeks.

The hotel chain, which has been operating for more than three decades, is hoping that the new measures reassure passengers they won’t have to pay more money if they need to undergo mandatory quarantine.

Any travellers that continue to test positive after the initial 14-day isolation period will be given the option to extend their stay at the hotel at a discounted rate of $199 per room, per night.

Are Jamaica and Mexico open for travel?

Jamaica has reopened to all foreign travellers. Tourists flying to the country from the US, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Mexico and Panama need a negative PCR test before flying to the Caribbean nation; all other travellers do not.

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Anyone planning to fly to Jamaica must complete a pre-departure Travel Authorisation form and purchase mandatory travel insurance before their trip.

Mexico is also open for travel, with anyone allowed to travel by air for business or leisure purposes. Commercial flights are operating to and from Mexico, although Dubai’s Emirates has yet to resume flights from the UAE to Mexico City.

Travellers flying to Mexico do not need to provide negative PCR test results or quarantine on arrival, but some resorts have additional safety measures in place for arriving passengers.

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A winter storm dropping snow and ice also sent temperatures plunging across the southern US plains states, prompting a power emergency in Texas a day after conditions canceled flights and affected traffic across large swaths of the US.

Texas sees one of its coldest winters in decades as temperatures drop

“We urge Texans to put safety first,” the council tweeted as it urged residents to reduce electricity use. ERCOT manages the flow of electric power in the state.

“Every grid operator and every electric company is fighting to restore power right now,” ERCOT president Bill Magness said in a statement.

The rotating outages were expected to last through Monday morning. More than 1.6 million customers were in the dark as of 5am local time, according to poweroutage.us, a utility tracking site.

Around 5,000 Oklahoma Gas & Electric customers were without power overnight and Entergy Arkansas logged about 3,000 outages. Both states have much smaller populations than Texas.

Officials in Houston had warned people to prepare for outages and hazardous roads – conditions similar to the wake of a category 5 hurricane.

“There have been numerous reports of accidents from icing recently,” National Weather Service (NWS) lead forecaster Bob Oravec said on Monday. “I think there’s going to be a big threat today as the system pushes north-eastward.”

Accumulating ice between a tenth and a quarter of an inch was possible across eastern Louisiana, Mississippi, central Tennessee, Kentucky and over into the West Virginia and Ohio border region, Oravec said.

Up to 12in of snow was expected across parts of the southern plains into Monday, said Marc Chenard, a meteorologist with the NWS Weather Prediction Center.

The region had been gearing up for the winter weather for the better part of the weekend. Texas governor Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration for all of the state’s 254 counties. Abbott, Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt and Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson activated national guard units to assist state agencies with tasks including rescuing stranded drivers.

President Joe Biden declared an emergency in Texas in a statement on Sunday night. The declaration is intended to add federal aid to state and local response efforts.

More than 760 flights were canceled at Dallas-Fort Worth international airport and at Dallas Love Field most of nearly 200 flights for Southwest Airlines, the airport’s main carrier, were canceled on Sunday. American Airlines said about 345 of its flights were canceled at DFW airport, its hub, by early Sunday afternoon. The airline said the storm was affecting flights across the region, with operations reduced and canceled at airports across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

The NWS said the forecast through early Tuesday called for 8in to 12in of snow in central Oklahoma, and 4in to 8in from eastern Texas to the Ohio Valley.

In Memphis, Tennessee, snow started falling on Sunday afternoon. While main roads were still passable, lines formed during the day at grocery stores as people rushed to stock up. In Mississippi, Bill Parker, an NWS meteorologist in Jackson, said up to three-quarters of an inch of ice could accumulate, bringing the possibility of power outages or falling tree limbs.

Parts of Kentucky and West Virginia still recovering from an ice storm last week were expected to get up to a quarter-inch of ice or up to 8in of snow by Tuesday.

Meanwhile, in the Pacific north-west, tens of thousands were without power after a winter storm blanketed the region with ice and snow and made travel treacherous.

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“Very early this morning, the Conakry laboratory confirmed the presence of the Ebola virus,” Sakoba Keita said after an emergency meeting in the capital.

The health minister, Remy Lamah, had earlier spoken of four deaths. It was not immediately clear why the new toll was lower.

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Opener Tamim Iqbal struck an aggressive 50, captain Mominul Haque got 26 and Liton Das 22 but Bangladesh’s batsmen failed to convert starts and the last nine wickets went down for 143 runs on either side of the interval.

Burly off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall, in only his fourth Test, led West Indies’ charge with four for 105 to end the contest with nine wickets and emerge with Man-of-the-Match honours.

He also snapped up three catches at slip, the last of which was a tumbling low catch which removed the dangerous Mehidy Hasan Miraz for 31, ended the match and West Indies’ nine-year wait for a Test series win on Bangladesh soil.

Part-time off-spinner Kraigg Brathwaite, who hardly put a foot wrong in the field as captain on Sunday, was one of the unlikely heroes with the ball taking three for 25 while left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican claimed the final wicket of the match to end with three for 47.

The victory with a day to spare completed a fairy-tale tour for the under-strength West Indies who arrived here last month shorn of nearly all their first-choice players, and given little chance of competing in the series.

Further, the result was in contrast to the last tour here three years ago when West Indies suffered a chastening series whitewash, losing both Tests heavily inside three days.

“It’s a series win in Asia since 2012 for the first time. Coming here without some players, with the protocols and so on,” an elated Brathwaite said afterwards.

“People will be proud. People wrote us off but we kept it simple, enjoyed it, and we proved them wrong.”

West Indies knew they were up against it when they lost nightwatchman Warrican for two in the morning’s fifth over, hit in front by pacer Abu Jayed (2-32) with the score on 50.

And when left-hander Kyle Mayers was also trapped on his crease by Abu for six approaching the first hour, the Caribbean side was in strife at 62 for five.

Jermaine Blackwood was stumped for nine off Taijul, two balls after the drinks break, but Da Silva arrived to join Bonner in a crucial 31-run, seventh-wicket stand to take West Indies safely to lunch on 98 without further loss.

Bonner, who got 90 in the first innings, counted three fours in a knock lasting 120 balls and just over three hours while Da Silva, already with 92 in the game, hit four fours in nearly an hour at the crease.

Da Silva perished in the second over following the resumption, however, edging a prod at Taijul to slip, as West Indies lost their last four wickets for 13 runs in 21 deliveries.

Bonner was ninth out, bowled by Nayeem bungling a reverse sweep.

Chasing their uncomplicated target, Tamim attacked from the start, belting nine fours in a 46-ball cameo as he put on 59 for the first wicket with Soumya Sarkar (13).

With the frontline bowlers all proving ineffective, Brathwaite introduced himself and struck with his very first ball, Cornwall lunging forward at first slip to snap up Soumya after his cut rebounded from Da Silva’s gloves.

Brathwaite then got the key wicket of Tamim in his fourth over, the veteran tapping a catch to Shayne Moseley placed at short cover for the anticipated stroke, at 70 for two.

And in the last over before tea, Cornwall claimed Najmul Hossain for 11 to a catch at short leg by Moseley to leave Bangladesh on 78 for three at the break.

After the interval, Mushfiqur (14) edged Warrican behind and Mohammad Mithun (10) turned Cornwall into Bonner’s hands at backward short leg in the space of 19 balls, before Mominul and Liton stalled the Windies progress in a 32-run, sixth-wicket partnership.

Both fell as Bangladesh lost three wickets for 16 runs to slump to 163 for eight but not for the first time in the series, Mehidy counter-attacked with three fours and two sixes in a 56-ball knock as he added 25 for the ninth with Nayeem and 25 for the last wicket with Abu.

With the game in the balance and West Indies needing a single wicket for victory, Warrican found Mehidy’s edge and the towering Cornwall swooped low at slip.

CMC

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President Biden is aggressively rolling back the agenda of his predecessor, Donald Trump. But that doesn’t mean a few things won’t survive.

Biden is keeping the U.S. Space Force, which was established under Trump, as well as the Artemis spaceflight program.

He’s not rolling back the new trade deal with Canada and Mexico, which was signed into law by Trump early last year and replaced a trade pact that Biden supported as a U.S. senator.

Biden administration officials have also offered accolades for the Abraham Accords, a deal brokered by the previous administration that normalized relations between Israel and other countries in the Middle East.

Biden has looked to swiftly undo Trump’s executive record on everything from immigration to climate, signing executive actions to rejoin the Paris climate deal, stop construction on the Keystone XL pipeline, rescind the so-called Mexico City policy, reverse plans to leave the World Health Organization and boost refugee admissions.

Biden has also pledged to partially rollback the tax cuts passed under Trump, though he has not taken concrete steps yet to do so.

Most of Trump’s moves were politically polarizing and the former president saw minimal legislative wins during his time in office. Still, a few of Trump’s accomplishments earned bipartisan support, including the passage of the First Step Act, which reduced sentences for drug offenses and enabled an earlier release for some serving time.

Biden expressed regret for supporting the 1994 crime bill on the campaign trail, calling it “a big mistake” and pledging to deliver criminal justice reform of his own.

Ames Grawert, senior council for the Brennan Center for Justice, called it an area ripe for expansion by Biden.

“We saw a First Step Act but there was never a second,” he said.

But Grawert said there may be few other similarities between the two administrations on the criminal justice front, noting that the Biden administration almost immediately sought to reverse policies from former Attorney General Jeff Sessions allowing private prisons and encouraging seeking maximum penalties.

Trump also granted pardons and clemency more liberally than some of his predecessors, frequently circumventing the recommendation process at the Department of Justice and relying on lobbying from celebrities and other outside officials.

Grawert said Biden should explore ways to improve the process to offer relief to deserving individuals.

“We have to figure out how to make the federal clemency process work better so you don’t have to rely on Kim Kardashian. We need to find those people better even when they don’t have celebrity advocates,” he said.

The White House explicitly committed to keeping the Space Force last week, after press secretary Jen Psaki raised eyebrows by dismissing a question about the service. Trump signed legislation to establish the Space Force as the sixth military branch at the end of 2019. The concept is rooted in a bipartisan proposal made by House lawmakers in 2017, but Trump’s effort to market it as a major accomplishment embroiled the service in controversy.

Biden is also expected to take advantage of new labor enforcement tools under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), which was solidified early last year after months of negotiations and represents another rare bipartisan legislative accomplishment of the previous president.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of continuity there,” said Edward Alden, an expert on economic competitiveness and trade at the Council on Foreign Relations. “The USMCA was a big bipartisan success.”

Still, Biden’s overall approach to economic and foreign policy issues is already drawing sharp contrast with Trump. Biden has emphasized the importance of alliances and partnerships in dealing with issues from confronting China to addressing climate change to defeating the coronavirus pandemic.

“We are moving from America First trade policy to a trade policy that is going to be built much more in consultation with allies,” said Alden. “There is going to be a lot more effort to work with allies more closely on economic and trade policy. You could not have a sharper departure from the Trump approach.”

Biden has, like Trump, embraced the idea of a tough stance toward China but the new administration has laid out an approach that will focus on competition and move away from Trump’s more confrontational tactics. The new administration is undertaking a sweeping review of Trump-era economic and foreign policy decisions, including reviewing the “phase one” trade deal negotiated between the U.S. and China and the remaining tariffs that are in place on Chinese goods.

Some believe Biden will keep the tariffs in place for the time being and use them as a bargaining chip to extract a concession out of China, but ultimately lift them. Alden said that Biden would be more likely to move quickly to undo Trump’s tariffs on European goods.

“I think the most striking thing is how deliberate and patient they are being on the China trade front,” said Alden. “They are moving very slowly and deliberately to review options on China trade, not moving quickly to undo the Trump record.”

Still, in some cases the Biden White House may look to build upon some of Trump’s actions when it comes to foreign policy.

The Abraham Accords reestablished diplomatic relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco, and the Biden administration has suggested it is looking to build on them.

“Then-candidate Biden made no bones about coming out and saying, ‘I think this is a good thing. I think this is a positive thing.’ And he’s said consistently over the course of the last several months, that he would like to carry forward this initiative,” Biden National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said last month.

Dennis Ross, a veteran diplomat who served on President Obama’s National Security Council, said that while Biden officials have supported the agreements, it remains to be seen whether the new administration will take an active or passive role in trying to build on them.

“My hope is that it will be an active effort to build on them,” said Ross, who argued that future agreements would be more likely to succeed with consistent American engagement.

But the overall message from Biden on engaging with other countries has been a reversal from the Trump era. Biden has sought to assure the global community of his commitment to alliances and signal that decisions will be made in consultation with partners and not impulsively.

“What you’re seeing is a kind of effort to show steadiness across the board,” said Ross.

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The first travellers have been dropped off at Heathrow hotels this morning at the start of the government’s new travel quarantine scheme – as a hospitality boss vowed to make their ten-day, £1,750 stay more ‘homely’ with ‘branded shampoo, puzzles and crockery’.

Dozens of passengers were seen arriving by coach at the four-star Radisson Blu Edwardian after touching down in the UK from a variety of Covid red list countries including the UAE, Zambia and South Africa.

The hotel offers spacious and airy rooms with large windows, Egyptian cotton linen and goose down pillows – although confined guests will be unable to enjoy its spa or choice of three restaurants. Standard rooms cost around £150 a night while superior suites include their own Nespresso machine.

Throughout their stay guests will have to eat airline-style food left at their door, change their own sheets and towels and be accompanied by security if they want fresh air or a cigarette outside.

Fatima, who arrived from Dubai and was waiting for her baggage by the coach, told MailOnline this morning: ‘I’m with my two children who are waiting inside the hotel.

‘We knew that we would have to quarantine and don’t have a problem with this. This is a lovely hotel and I think it will be a nice stay. I’m actually quite looking forward to it.’

Fatima revealed that her and her family were met off the plane by security staff and after clearing immigration they were placed on coaches. She added: ‘It took quite a long time but they’ve been looking after us very well.’

As she tried to continue speaking, security staff intervened ordering her not to say anything else. There are around six private security officials at the hotel and another two or three on each coach that arrives.

There has been no word yet why the USA, the world’s biggest COVID hotspot, isn’t on the list.

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Biden spoke hours after Trump was acquitted by the Senate in his second impeachment trial – a verdict that underscored the sway America’s 45th president still holds over the Republican party even after leaving office.

After just five days of debate in the chamber that was the scene of last month’s invasion, a divided Senate fell 10 votes short of the two-thirds majority required to convict high crimes and misdemeanors. A conviction would have allowed the Senate to vote to disqualify him from holding future office.

Seven Republicans joined every Democrat to declare Trump guilty on the charge of “incitement of insurrection” after his months-long quest to overturn his defeat by Joe Biden and its deadly conclusion on 6 January, when Congress met to formalize the election results.

The 57-43 vote was most bipartisan support for conviction ever in a presidential impeachment trial. The outcome, which was never in doubt, reflected both the still raw anger of senators over Trump’s conduct as his supporters stormed the Capitol last month – and the vice-like grip the defeated president still holds over his party.

Among the Republicans willing to defy him were Richard Burr of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.

Mitch McConnell lambasts Donald Trump but votes not guilty in impeachment trial – video

Trump’s acquittal came after grave warnings from the nine Democratic House managers, serving as prosecutors, that Trump continued to pose a threat to the nation and democracy itself.

“If this is not a high crime and misdemeanor against the United States of America then nothing is,” congressman Jaime Raskin, the lead manager, pleaded with senators in the final moments before they rendered their judgments as jurors and witnesses. “President Trump must be convicted, for the safety and democracy of our people.”

In a floor speech after the vote, Senator Mitch McConnell, the minority leaders, said Trump’s conduct preceding the assault on the Capitol amounted to a “disgraceful dereliction of duty” by the former president, who he held “practically, and morally, responsible for provoking the events of the day”

But McConnell concluded that the Senate was never meant to serve as a “moral tribunal” and suggested instead that Trump could still face criminal prosecution.

“President Trump is still liable for everything he did while he’s in office,” McConnell said. “He didn’t get away with anything yet.”

The vote on Saturday came after the proceedings were briefly thrown into chaos when the House managers unexpectedly moved to call witnesses, in an effort to shed light on Trump’s state of mind as the assault unfolded. Caught off guard, Trump’s legal team threatened to depose “at least over 100” witnesses, and said Pelosi was at the top of their list.

After a frantic bout of uncertainty in which it appeared the managers’ request could prolong the trial for several more weeks, senators struck a deal with the prosecution and Trump’s lawyers to avert calling witnesses. Instead, they agreed to enter as evidence the written statement of a Republican congresswoman who had been told that Trump sided with the rioters after the House minority leader pleaded with him to stop the attack on 6 January.

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