MINISTER of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Dr Amery Browne says Trinidad and Tobago continues to “do its part as prospective beneficiaries” of the US’s global vaccine initiative.

In March, Browne said diplomatic sources at the US State Department said it was “considering the matter of vaccine access for the Caribbean.”

And in May, the Prime Minister directly contacted US President Joe Biden to ask for vaccines after Biden announced he intended to distribute 80 million vaccines overseas.

In a news conference at the White House, Biden said the donation would include 20 million Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines that would be added to a previously-announced donation of 60 million AstraZeneca vaccines.

Asked for an update, Browne told Newsday, “Those efforts continue, along with the relevant advocacy.

“This Tuesday, I met with Winnie Byanyima, the executive director of UNAIDS, to discuss the People's Vaccine Initiative and how it can help shape covid19 vaccine initiatives coming out of the EU and North America…(and) today, the Prime Minister met with US House Majority Whip, Congressman James E Clyburn, and I accompanied the PM at that meeting.”

He said he also has a virtual meeting with Biden's senior director for global health security, Dr Beth Cameron, next Tuesday.

He added that TT diplomats in Brussels, Belgium are also directly following up with the European Commission on its vaccine announcement, “subsequent to the PM's prompt correspondence.

“And our ambassador to Washington, DC, Anthony Phillips-Spencer, has been pressing ahead with the diplomacy with the State Department and other key US agencies, all in support of the Prime Minister's ongoing series of high-level interactions with US leadership.

“We are fully utilising our diplomatic channels to follow all possibilities, in the best interest of all the people of TT.”