Developing Countries Must Speak Out About Vaccine Inequality – Jamaica Tourism Minister

“The tourism industry, at both the global and region levels, must [therefore] speak up about vaccine equity louder than it already has and assume a more significant role in tackling the issue if the industry is to return to any sense of normality as without vaccine equity, there will be no travel recovery.” – Jamaica Tourism Minister, Edmund Bartlett 

(Jamaica Information Service) Tourism Minister, Hon. Edmund Bartlett, has called on leaders in the Caribbean and in other parts of the developing world to come together and speak with a unified voice, in all international fora, about vaccine inequality.

He said that equitable access to coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines is critical in ensuring the economic recovery of developing countries, particularly those that are tourism-dependent.

“Indeed, the current state of vaccine inequity has to be dramatically reversed as global economic recovery efforts cannot afford to be delayed or prolonged for years, especially among the worst-affected regions,” he said.

Minister Bartlett was speaking during a Tourism Linkages Network digital forum on Friday (May 7), on the theme: ‘Tourism Diplomacy – Rebuilding Tourism Safely’.

He noted that since the onset of COVID-19, tourism-dependent economies, such as those in the Caribbean, have lost 12 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP), compared to 4.4 per cent globally.

Read more at: Jamaica Information Service

Source: CARICOM TODAY