Photo Credit: Cricket West Indies
Several members of the West Indies Rising Stars U19s team received their first doses of vaccinations against COVID-19 in Antigua, where they have been preparing for their upcoming tour of England. Cricket West Indies (CWI), in partnership with the Government of Antigua and Barbuda, through the support of the Ministry of Health and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA), secured COVID-19 vaccines for all interested squad members between the ages of 16 and 18 who received parental consent.
CWI continues to support the efforts of regional governments to encourage everyone to get vaccinated against COVID-19, with the West Indies Women’s team and West Indies Men’s team having received vaccines in recent months.
In a statement CARPHA noted:
“CARPHA is pleased to have worked with CARICOM to execute the United States Government donation of 5.5 million Pfizer vaccines to the Caribbean. This will facilitate the vaccination of young persons from 12 years of age, which was not possible before. This is crucial for protecting young people from severe illness and death.”
CWI’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Israel Dowlat again offered CWI’s appreciation of the support received on the vaccinations and their importance to the squad.
“CWI is fully committed to supporting the vaccination drive throughout the region. We are extremely grateful to have our governments and CARPHA who have been partnering with us to host cricket safely and to get our squads vaccinated.”
The West Indies Rising Stars U19s will depart for England on Saturday where they will play six Youth One-Day Internationals at The County Ground, Beckenham and The Polo Farm, Canterbury from Saturday, September 4 to Friday, September 17. This is part of their preparations for the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup to be hosted by CWI from January 4 to February 3, 2022.
Name of Author: Cricket West Indies
Cricket West Indies (CWI) governs cricket across the West Indies, a confederation of Caribbean countries. Originally established as the West Indies Cricket Board of Control in the 1920s, it became the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in 1996 and was rebranded as Cricket West Indies in May 2017 as part of a restructuring effort.
