UN General Assembly
2021

It is true, too, though relatively late in day, that some rich countries in the North Atlantic (USA, Canada, and the United Kingdom) have delivered or agreed to deliver, freely, from their surpluses, vaccines to some less developed countries; we are very grateful. Still, though, some of these countries may be so slow in their promised deliveries that they may end up, embarrassingly, with expired doses of the vaccines running into several millions. It is timely to remind all of us that the noblest form of solidarity is to give not from the abundance or surplus that we may have but from the little that we possess; that is the lesson of the proverbial widow’s mite. In this regard, on behalf of the Caribbean, I thank the government of the Republic of India for their early, and meaningful gift of Covishield Astrazeneca vaccines. Sadly, at least one country in the North Atlantic has refused to recognise Covishield for entry of persons into that country.