Sort by
Sort by

Nestlé Partners with Red Cross to support equitable access to COVID-19 Vaccine

Back to Press releases
Nestlé Partners with Red Cross to support equitable access to COVID-19 Vaccine
Jill De Bourg, President, Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross (left) receives cheque from Nestlé Trinidad and Tobago Limited’s Head of Corporate Communications, Siti Jones- Gordon (right)

 

Nestlé and The Trinidad & Tobago Red Cross Society today announced a new partnership to support equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines throughout Trinidad and Tobago, which will see Nestlé contributing more than $250,000 to support the national fight against the pandemic, in line with expectations of an intensified vaccine rollout in upcoming months. 

Under the joint programme, Nestlé and the Red Cross, will implement three special initiatives in alignment with the Ministry of Health. These include a Vaccine Educational Campaign to help shift the public mindset from vaccine hesitancy to vaccine confidence; Volunteer support as required at vaccination sites to assist with vaccination roll-out, monitoring and evaluation, and; funding and procurement for the creation of a new COVID-19 Testing site, which will be located at the Trinidad and Tobago Red Cross Henry Dunant Clinic. 

“Building trust, ensuring vaccines reach the most vulnerable, and engaging communities in a two-way dialogue to ensure they have accurate information and the relevant tools to protect themselves and their families are essential elements in ending the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Jill De Bourg, President of the Trinidad & Tobago Red Cross Society, “and with Nestlé’s help, the Red Cross will work towards equitable access for communities across the country especially inaccessible and marginalized groups, so that we can find a way out of this crisis.  We will build strong risk communication, community engagement and accountability to ensure individuals at community level are informed and empowered to make a decision that saves lives.   Testing, contact tracing and isolation of people who are ill will continue to be central in this response while vaccination is underway.”

Nestlé's collaboration with the Red Cross during the pandemic builds on a two decade-long partnership. Nestlé’s goal has been twofold: to support broad and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, and to contribute to efforts by COVAX to rapidly scale up the international delivery of vaccines. Through these combined initiatives Nestlé has made a global commitment of 10 million Swiss Francs to support equitable vaccination efforts.

“This support for access to vaccines is just the latest phase in Nestlé's response to the COVID-19 crisis,” says Siti Jones Gordon, Head of Corporate Communications at Nestlé Anglo Dutch Caribbean, “We will continue to engage in the fight against the pandemic and its consequences, protecting people, maintaining the food supply and giving a helping hand to our local communities.”