Samuda Appeals for World Leaders to Make Vaccines More Readily Available
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Wednesday, June 16, 2021
Samuda Appeals for World Leaders to Make Vaccines More Readily Available
Minister of Labour and Social Security, Hon. Karl Samuda, is appealing to World Leaders, to make vaccines more readily available, so that developing countries can recover faster from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Limited access to vaccines by developing countries such as Jamaica and others in the Caribbean, means that the pace of our economic recovery will be slower and the negative impact on our people will continue,” Samuda explained.
“Poorer countries like Jamaica are forced to use harsh non-vaccine measures to contain the spread of the virus. I am therefore calling on the World Leaders to work diligently to assist developing countries to improve access to vaccines,” Samuda said while speaking at the 109th session of the International Labour Organization Conference in Geneva today.
Minister Samuda said that, “despite the socio-economic challenges brought about by the pandemic, the government has been doing its part to assist business operators and the most vulnerable in the society to recover from the pandemic.”
“The government provided tax incentives to mitigate against the fallout, particularly to the micro, small and medium size entities, resulting in the return of $1 Billion to employers and $10 Billion was spent on implementing a social economic programme called the CARE programme,” Samuda added.
The Minister also stated that the government has been working on initiatives with the ILO’s Regional Office in Trinidad & Tobago to provide social protection and decent work for the people of Jamaica.
“Increase productivity will translate into higher profit for firms, higher wages for labour, higher revenue for government and lower cost for consumers.”
Contact: V George Palmer, Dir. Public Relations & Communications (876) 820-5373 or (876) 967-5484
|Email: vando.palmer@mlss.gov.jm/prunit@mlss.gov.jm
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