KINGSTON, Jamaica— The Digicel Foundation has donated US$1 million to the National Health Fund (NHF) to assist in its purchase of COVID-19 vaccines to help Jamaicans ”get back to living their lives without restrictions”.

Minister of Health and Wellness Christopher Tufton yesterday met with the Digicel Foundation Patron, Denis O’Brien at the Digicel headquarters in downtown Kingston to accept the donation.

Jamaica received its first shipment of vaccines in March and more than 135,000 people have now received their first dose.

According to a statement from the Foundation, with corporate support playing an essential role in the Government of Jamaica’s continued fight against COVID, ”Digicel’s contribution will help to take those efforts to the next level.”

The Digicel Foundation has already donated over US$665,000 towards the national pandemic management efforts through its Operation SAFE Mode initiative to sanitise, advocate, feed and enable distance learning – and in November 2020, it also donated a plasma-apheresis machine to assist with the treatment of COVID patients at the University Hospital of the West Indies.

“The Ministry of Health and Wellness is grateful for the continued support and partnership with Digicel, which has been a longstanding corporate citizen. This pandemic has further strengthened and shown the commitment of our private partners and we have always emphasised the importance of partnership in public health as a measure of success – and to which a part of our success can be attributed to,” Tufton said.

Digicel Foundation Patron, O’Brien, said; “Vaccines are the most fundamental component in the fight against COVID and in helping people to get back to living their lives free of restrictions. We are proud to do our part to assist the Government’s efforts in encouraging everyone to get vaccinated and look forward to the day when everyone can come back together with family and friends.”

Jean Lowrie-Chin, Chairperson of the Digicel Foundation, noted that “this is a lifesaving donation, and we are grateful to our patron, Denis O’Brien, for his magnanimous gesture. We wish to thank our Jamaican health workers also, for their outstanding work in our national COVID vaccination programme.”