News
US President has received PM's letter on vaccines
Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Amery Browne says diplomatic sources have sai the US State Department is considering the matter of vaccine access for the Caribbean. He said there has been acknowledgement of receipt of a letter the Prime Minister wrote to President Biden requesting vaccines for Caribbean use. Dr Rowley wrote to Biden on Saturday as Caricom chairman, seeking supplies of WHO-approved covid19 vaccines for the entire Caricom region. Read more...
One more COVID death, toll at 141
The country’s COVID-19 death toll now stands at 141 after another infected person died yesterday.According to the Ministry of Health update, the person was an elderly male. It offered no further information on the victim.
The ministry also confirmed four additional cases yesterday from samples taken between March 20 to 23, bringing the total number of people to be infected locally up to 7,865. Read more...
POLITICS
Government to work with businesses in vaccine drive
The Government will engage the private sector in its search for viable vaccines outside the COVAX facility for Trinidad and Tobago.
The decision comes after a brief blow-up between the State and conglomerate ANSA McAL over a misunderstanding on whether the Government could fund the US$8.4 million purchase of 351,000 vaccines from Pfizer or needed ANSA McAL to step in to make the purchase. Read more...
Ministry to check students for depression
THE Ministry of Education will soon start testing an online tool to test pupils for depression arising from the past year of online school classes, Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat told the Senate on Tuesday in reply to a listed question by Opposition Senator Wade Mark. Read more...
Business
GML makes $7m pre tax profit
Guardian Media Limited, the parent company of the T&T Guardian and CNC3 has reported a pre-tax profit for 2020 of $7 million.
In an advertisement that appears on page 51 of today’s Guardian newspaper, the company’s Chairman Peter Clarke said the results were achieved in a pandemic that brought unprecedented challenges to the media industry in 2020. Read more...
RBC opens new branch at St Clair
RBC has opened a new branch at the ground floor of the bank’s Regional headquarters in St Clair, Port of Spain.
In a release on Tuesday, RBC’s Managing Director Gretchen Camacho-Mohammed said, “The new branch design is in keeping with our commitment to being the Caribbean’s ‘digitally-enabled relationship bank.’ Read more...
Regional
Guyana interested in 400,000 doses of ‘Covaxin’
THOUGH Guyana has not finalised any purchase agreements, the country is interested in some 400,000 doses of the ‘Covaxin’ vaccine for COVID-19 created in India by the Bharat BioTech company and the Indian Council for Medical Research, according to Indian High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr. K. J. Srinivasa.
In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle on Tuesday, the High Commissioner noted that many countries, including Guyana, have signalled their interest in purchasing the Covaxin vaccine. The demand, he said, has increased since the AstraZeneca vaccine — which is produced by the Serum Institute of India and in South Korea — has now become a scarce commodity. Read more...
Jamaica Fibreglass to raise capital for market expansion
Jamaica Fibreglass Products is looking to raise in the region of $280 million on the capital market to fund an expansion drive that will see it making a concerted foray into export markets in North America and the Caribbean. Read more...
International
Coronavirus: EU plans tougher controls on vaccine exports
The plans, to go before EU leaders on Thursday, stop short of a ban but could enflame tensions with the UK. Any shipment would be assessed on the destination country's rate of vaccinations and vaccine exports. Meanwhile, millions of AZ doses have reportedly been found in Italy.
La Stampa website says some 29 million vaccine doses due to be shipped to the UK were being stored at the Catalent plant in Anagni near Rome but were discovered by Italian inspectors as part of an investigation by the European Commission. Read more...
24th March 2021