Black Immigrant Daily News

Minister Wever ta bay Suriname pa papia riba un

ORANJESTAD(AAN): Diamars durante un conferencia di prensa minister di Asuntonan Economico Comunicacion y Desaroyo Sostenible Geoffrey Wever a duna di conoce cu e ta bay haci un viahe di trabao pa Suriname awe, pa atende un conferencia di ECLAC di Nacionnan Uni, pa Caribe y Latino America.

“Eynan ta bay tin dos dia di reunion riba agenda poni, caminda cu ta bay discuti riba establecimento di un asina yama ‘Economic Resilience Fund’ cu ta un fondo pa paisnan den Caribe y Latino America pa absorba asina yama ‘shocks externo’ manera locual a sosode rond di COVID-19”.

E topiconan riba agenda ta mas tanto pa wak con Caribe y Latino America por bira mas resiliente, con nan por defende nan mes mas mihor y con nan por prepara pa shocks externo, segun e mandatario.

Wever a sigui bisa cu mayoria di e paisnan den e region tin e mesun complicacionnan manera nos na Aruba, importando asina hopi producto y wordo confronta cu desaroyonan internacional sin cu por controla esey.

“Pesey ta bay papia riba introduccion di un Caribbean Economic Resilience Fund, cu ta un topico hopi interesante”, segun e minister.

El a sigui bisa cu e fondo aki sigur lo pro yuda, mirando cu ora cu e pandemia a dal Aruba y mundo henter, nos isla no tabata tin un sistema pa absorba e tipo di efectonan externo aki.

Segun Wever, 30 aña pasa Aruba no a cuminza cu un programa di spaar, pa ora cu algo asina sosode nos ta bon prepara.

“Locual nos mester preveni ta ripiti e mesun tipo di errornan ey pesey ta necesario pa nos sigui papia riba e maneranan con nos por preveni cu den futuro nos pais ta pasa den momentonan dificil”, segun e mandatario.

El a splica cu un otro topico riba cual lo papia ta bay ta ‘Achieving the SDG’s in the Caribbean’.

“Como minister di Desaroyo Sostenible mi ta responsabel pa implementacion y promove e Sustainable Development Goals na Aruba y e agenda aki ta duna contenido na esey”, segun Wever.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

AHATA ta bisa cla y raspa:

Tin hopi preocupacion grandi riba tur esaki 

ORANJESTAD (AAN): Aruba Hotel & Tourism Association a revisa gobierno di Aruba su plan di impuesto 2023 y ta sumamente preocupa pa e efectonan negativo cu esaki por trece pa pais Aruba. Segun Presidente y CEO di AHATA, Señora Tisa LaSorte, e plan ta un “fundraiser mandatorio” cu ta recauda mas fondo di tur esnan cu ya ta cumpli cu impuesto.

   Aunke cu e anuncio di gobierno falta hopi detaye y no ta duna bista completo riba su efecto, AHATA ta desea di splica e preocupacionnan di mas grandi relaciona cu e informacion disponibel:

  (*) E enfasis di gobierno ta robes: ta hisa entrada di gobierno pa sostene un instituto ineficiente door di di cobra mas y pone mas peso financiero riba nos comunidad, en bes di baha gasto gubernamental structuralmente, crea mihor eficiencia, y implementa un plan agresivo pa hisa cumplimento di impuesto den e grupo grandi cu no ta paga y cumpli cu nan deber.

  (*) E plan di impuesto ta hisa gasto di compania cual lo resulta den prijs mas halto y costo di bida mas halto pa comunidad.

  (*) E elementonan di compensacion (por ehempel: baha loonbelasting) ta masha tiki compara cu e cantidad adicional di impuesto tur hende lo paga.

  (*) Prijs mas halto por resulta den menos consumo di residente y di turista. E ora e fondonan extra cu gobierno a calcula cu nan lo ricibi, no lo resulta.

  (*) Un di e elementonan di mas dañino pa compania den e pakete di impuesto nobo ta e limite riba devaluacion di propedad inmobil.  Esaki ta afecta e entrada di un compania drasticamente. Un decision asina ta core cu inversionista en bes di atrae inversionista. 

  (*) E prijsnan mas halto hunto cu e problema existente den distribucion global lo keda causa mas inflacion.

   Segun LaSorte, ta di lamenta cu sector priva, incluyendo AHATA, consistentemente a ofrece pa participa den e proceso di crea un reforma fiscal efectivo pa Aruba, pero cu gobierno ta nenga di acepta e expertisio y ayudo.

   E falta di transparencia y inclusion ta trece su consecuencianan negativo pa henter comunidad.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The US on Wednesday authorized updated COVID-19 boosters for children as young as 5, seeking to expand protection ahead of an expected winter wave.

Tweaked boosters rolled out for Americans 12 and older last month, doses modified to target today’s most common and contagious omicron relative. While there wasn’t a big rush, federal health officials are urging that people seek the extra protection ahead of holiday gatherings.

Now the Food and Drug Administration has given a green light for elementary school-age kids to get the updated booster doses, too — one made by Pfizer for 5- to 11-year-olds, and a version from rival Moderna for those as young as 6.

There’s one more step before parents can bring their kids in for the new shot: The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends how vaccines are used, must sign off.

Americans may be tired of repeated calls to get boosted against COVID-19 but experts say the updated shots have an advantage: They contain half the recipe that targeted the original coronavirus strain and half protection against the dominant BA.4 and BA.5 omicron versions.

These combinations or “bivalent” boosters are designed to broaden immune defences so that people are better protected against serious illness whether they encounter an omicron relative in the coming months — or a different mutant that’s more like the original virus.

“We want to have the best of both worlds,” Pfizer’s Dr Bill Gruber, a paediatrician, told The Associated Press. He hopes the updated shots will “re-energize interest in protecting children for the winter.”

The updated boosters are “extremely important” for keeping kids healthy and in school, said Dr Jason Newland, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Washington University in St Louis.

Parents should know “there is no concern from the safety perspective with the bivalent vaccines, whether Moderna or Pfizer,” Newland added.

Only people who’ve gotten their initial vaccinations — with any of the original-formula versions — qualify for an updated booster. That means about three-fourths of Americans 12 and older are eligible. As of last weekend, only at least 13 million had gotten an updated booster, White House COVID-19 coordinator Dr Ashish Jha estimated Tuesday.

To paediatricians’ chagrin, getting children their first vaccinations has been tougher. Less than a third of five- to 11-year-olds have had their two primary doses and thus would qualify for the new booster.

This age group will get kid-size doses of the new omicron-targeting booster — and they can receive it at least two months after their last dose, whether that was their primary vaccination series or an earlier booster, the FDA said.

“Vaccination remains the most effective measure to prevent the severe consequences of COVID-19,” Dr Peter Marks, FDA’s vaccine chief, said in a statement.

While children tend to get less seriously ill than adults, “as the various waves of COVID-19 have occurred, more children have gotten sick with the disease and have been hospitalized,” Marks said.

For the updated booster made by Pfizer and its partner BioNTech, five- to 11-year-olds would get a third of the dose that anyone 12 and older already receives. Pfizer said it could ship up to 6 million kid-sized doses within a week of authorization, in addition to ongoing shipments of adult-sized doses.

Until now, Moderna’s updated booster was cleared only for adults. FDA just expanded that adult bivalent dosage to 12- to 17-year-olds, and authorized half the dose for kids ages six to 11.

As for even younger tots, first vaccinations didn’t open for the under-five age group until mid-June — and it will be several more months before regulators decide if they’ll also need a booster using the updated recipe.

Exactly how much protection does an updated COVID-19 booster shot offer? That’s hard to know. Pfizer and Moderna are starting studies in young children.

But the FDA cleared the COVID-19 booster tweaks without requiring human test results — just like it approves yearly changes to flu vaccines. That’s partly because both companies already had studied experimental shots tweaked to target prior COVID-19 variants, including an earlier omicron version, and found they safely revved up virus-fighting antibodies.

“It’s clearly a better vaccine, an important upgrade from what we had before,” Jha said earlier this week.

Jha urged adults to get their updated shot in October — like they get flu vaccinations — or at least well before holiday gatherings with high-risk family and friends. People who’ve recently had COVID-19 still need the booster but can wait about three months, he added.

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By LAURAN NEERGAARD AP Medical Writer

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Black Immigrant Daily News

It will soon be easier to fly between Antigua and Barbuda and Nigeria as Antigua Airways has confirmed the date for its inaugural service.

In a post to social media yesterday, Antigua Airways said: “First flight departing Lagos on the 31st of October 2022 confirmed; holiday package in Antigua with return on the 6th of November 2022.”

The airline will use its single Boeing 767-300ER aircraft, which has 16 business class and 251 economy class seats, to fly from its hub at the V.C Bird International Airport in St John’s Antigua.

Photo: Antigua Airways

Antigua Airways will offer three weekly connections from Saint John’s to Lagos, Accra in Ghana and Toronto, Canada.

The cost of tickets and flight times have not been revealed but the airline has urged customers to contact them about package deals to Antigua.

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