Caribbean News
CARPHA doubles down; the Agency does not recommend Covid-19 vaccines for healthy children
By Dana Malcolm & Deandrea Hamilton
Staff Writer
#TurksandCaicos, February 15, 2022 – Do not use adult doses of the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine for the vaccination of children aged 5 to 11 years of age, says The Caribbean Public Health Agency, CARPHA and now, the Agency is making a new announcement that it has not recommended use of the Pfizer vaccine in children because the WHO arm, responsible for emergency listing has not given Pfizer the green light.
CARPHA, with this second public statement on the subject in mere days, is obviously hesitant to throw its full weight behind administering the vaccine to all children under 12 years old.
“The WHO Strategic Group of Experts (SAGE) that advises on Immunization has recommended the use of the vaccine in children 5-11 years of age. However, the approval of the product in full comes from a different group of experts called the World Health Organization Emergency Use Listing Prequalification Team. (EUL) This full product assessment is critical as it helps countries to be assured of the final vaccine product that may be registered in the country and used in children,” said CARPHA on Monday in a media statement.
Just last week came a stern warning in a press release that said CARPHA had not recommended the pediatric formulation. CARPHA noted that while uptake of the vaccine was critical in achieving maximum protection, there is a firm caution to Member States (which includes the Turks and Caicos Islands) against the use of any adult formulation of the vaccine on children.
Program manager of CARPHA, Dr. Rian Extavour said, “The possibility of errors in administering the vaccine dosage is of concern.”
Executive Director, Dr. Joy St. John also said, “Unless otherwise specified, Member States should continue
adherence to recommendations for approved vaccines. This will help to ensure favourable benefits to individuals and communities.”
CARPHA is now doubling down on that message saying it matters to them that the prequalification team of the WHO looks at all aspects of the vaccine including: The composition; How it is made and where; How it is given (dispensed or administered); How it is packaged, and how it is to be stored.
It is unclear what is driving these messages but larger countries like the United Kingdom have approved the pediatric dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children only at the highest risk including those with learning disabilities and long-term conditions like diabetes. The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization in the United Kingdom made the decision in December. No decision has been made for children who are not considered high risk.
The Turks and Caicos Islands Government has taken a different approach from the UK, giving approval for any child – healthy or immunocompromised – between the ages 5 to 11.
It makes Turks and Caicos one of the first and few in the region to do so.
Fellow Overseas Territory, Bermuda announced a decision – just last Tuesday – to use the pediatric doses; so too have Aruba (a part of the Dutch Caribbean) and the US Virgin Islands.
In terms of other British Overseas Territories, while Cayman does allow for vaccination of the 5 to 11 age group the child must be immunocompromised and have a letter from their doctor and in Gibraltar, vaccination of the age group is set for a March start but whether it will be for immunocompromised children only, is unstated at this time.
There is no information as yet on the direction on this step in the COVID response from other UKOTs: BVI or Monserrat.
Dr. Joy Saint John, Executive Director of CARPHA and Dr. Rian Extavour, CARPHA’s Program Manager are on the record as having long supported the operation procedure of the WHO EUL which says the prequalification team which develops summaries and makes recommendations must first give safety approval based on its own findings.
There is, at this time “no science” or compelling evidence from the WHO or the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunization (UK) to support administering the pediatric dosage of COVID-19 vaccine to healthy children.
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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