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PAHO to deliver 21,600 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to Antigua and Barbuda

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The COVAX Facility has announced its final allocation of COVID-19 vaccines for Barbados and countries in the Eastern Caribbean that will see them receiving a proportion of 16 to 20 per cent of their population coverage by the end of March.

According to PAHO, following the approval for the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine for Emergency Use List (EUL) by World Health Organization (WHO), 100, 800 doses of the vaccine will be delivered to Barbados; 74,400 doses to St Lucia; 40,800 doses to Antigua and Barbuda; 21,600 doses to Saint Kitts and Nevis; 45,600 doses to Grenada; 28,800 doses to Dominica; and 45,600 doses to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

In a statement on Saturday, PAHO said that its Revolving Fund for Vaccines (RFV) will procure and deliver the COVAX vaccines to the countries in the Eastern Caribbean and Barbados.

“PAHO is working with its Member Countries to close the purchase orders and to expedite administrative, regulatory, and logistics procedures to scale up vaccinations in the region. The countries will start receiving their first vaccines through COVAX in March if all the conditions are met. Countries received the letters from COVAX informing about the volumes they will receive until May from the first producer that met the EUL authorization from WHO and finalized the commercial agreement with COVAX.”

The PAHO/WHO Representative for Barbados and Eastern Caribbean countries, Dr Yitades Gebre, stated that, “the priority of the first phase of vaccination is to save lives. We will achieve this by vaccinating the most exposed groups — like the health professionals, and the most vulnerable groups to developing severe COVID-19 illness.”

COVAX is financially supporting access to vaccines for the four Eastern Caribbean countries of Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, that probably would have to wait many months to get vaccines if the facility did not exist.

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Dr Gebre further stated that “the vaccines will not have an important impact on virus transmission itself in the next months. To achieve herd immunity, we will need to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of the population.”  While we are vaccinating the most vulnerable and reducing the mortality, we need to keep all public health measures that can reduce the transmission: the use of masks, physical distancing, avoiding closed and crowded spaces.

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REQUEST FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

(CONSULTING SERVICES – INDIVIDUAL SELECTION)

 

OECS MSME Guarantee Facility Project

Loan No.: IDA-62670, IDA-62660, IDA-62640, IBRD-88830, IDA-62650

Assignment Title: Senior Operating Officer (SOO)

Reference No. KN-ECPCGC-207852-CS-INDV

 

The Governments of Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines have received financing in the amount of US$10 million equivalent from the World Bank towards the cost of establishing a partial credit guarantee scheme, and they intend to apply part of the proceeds to payments for goods, and consulting services to be procured under this project. 

The consultant will serve as the “Senior Operating Officer (SOO)” for the ECPCGC and should possess extensive knowledge of MSME lending with some direct experience lending to Micro, small and medium-sized businesses, knowledge of the internal control processes necessary for a lending operation and the ability to design and implement risk mitigation procedures. The ideal candidate should possess an Undergraduate Degree from a reputable college or university, preferably in Business, Accounting, Banking or related field, with a minimum of 5 years’ experience in lending, inclusive of MSME lending. The initial employment period will be for two years on a contractual basis. Renewal of the contract will be subject to a performance evaluation at the end of the contractual period. The assignment is expected to begin on September 30th, 2021.  The consultant will report directly to the Chief Executive Officer of the ECPCGC.

The detailed Terms of Reference (TOR) for the assignment can be viewed by following the attached link below. 

 

https://bit.ly/3iVannm

 

The Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation (ECPCGC) now invites eligible “Consultants” to indicate their interest in providing the Services. Interested Consultants should provide information demonstrating that they have:

  • An Undergraduate Degree from a reputable college or university, preferably in Business, Finance, Banking or related field; and
  • Minimum of 5 years’ experience in MSME lending. Applicants should also have:
  • The ability to design and implement risk management procedures 
  • Extensive knowledge of MSME lending with some direct experience lending to small and medium-sized businesses
  • Extensive knowledge of MSME banking operations
  • Knowledge of the internal controls necessary for a lending operation and the ability to design and implement risk management procedures
  • Experience developing and presenting information in public, including responding to questions in real-time
  • Experience lending to MSMEs located in the ECCU
  • Knowledge of marketing and communicating with the MSME sector
  • Ability to draft procedures to be used in a lending operation
  • Familiarity with the mechanics of a loan guarantee program
  • Exceptional written, oral, interpersonal, and presentation skills, and
  • Proficiency in the use of Microsoft Office suite.

The attention of interested Individual Consultants is drawn to Section III, Paragraphs 3.14, 3.16, and 3.17 of the World Bank’s Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers July 2016, [revised November 2017] (“Procurement Regulations”), setting forth the World Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. A Consultant will be selected in accordance with the Approved Selection Method for Individual Consultants set out in the clause 7.34 of the World Bank Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers. 

 

Further information can be obtained at the address below during office hours 0800 to 1700 hours:

Eastern Caribbean Partial Credit Guarantee Corporation

Brid Rock, Basseterre,

St. Kitts.

Expressions of interest must be delivered in a written form by e-mail by August 11th, 2021, to [email protected]

 

For further information, please contact:

Carmen Gomez-Trigg                                                            Bernard Thomas

Chief Executive Officer                                                          Chief Financial Officer

Tel: 868-620-8144                                                                  Tel: 869-765-2385

Email: [email protected]                                          [email protected]