Jamaicans encouraged to take vaccine
Jamaica Minister of Health and Wellness encouraged Jamaicans to take the COVID-19 vaccine as the country has plenty of supplies available.
Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufto says there are about 568,615 doses of vaccine ready to be administered. These include 390,180 doses of the AstraZeneca brand for first and second doses and 178,435 of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose brand.
“We are saying to Jamaicans, please, if you have not yet gotten your vaccines or you need to get your second dose, or you need the one-jab vaccine, we have in stock. Go to a site that is available, either through the private window or public [sector], to benefit from this.”
In addition, Tufton assured Jamaicans that expired vaccines will not be administered, noting that a protocol exists for discarding them.
Approximately 60,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine expired at midnight on September 30. Tufton explained that the expired vaccines are the remainder of the 300,000 United Kingdom (UK)-donated Oxford AstraZeneca brand vaccines, which arrived on the island in July.
“Our policy is, that we do not administer vaccines that have expired, in keeping with the high standards we have established for the immunisation programme. There was always the possibility that we would have not used up as much as was given during the period that was given to dispose of the amount,” he said.
“Vaccine is safe”
Prime Minister Andrew Holness said that the Government has taken all the necessary steps to ensure that the vaccines are safe.
Holness noted that while scepticism is healthy, waiting too long to get vaccinated could be “detrimental to your life”.
“Make a decision; don’t wait too late; find time now. The Government has taken all the precautions to make sure that the vaccines that we are giving to you are safe and that the process of vaccinating you is also safe.”
The Prime Minister reiterated that vaccination is the best way to protect the population against the virus, particularly the most vulnerable, and return the country to normality.
Likewise, noted that measures implemented to contain the spread of COVID-19, such as lockdowns and curfews, cannot continue indefinitely, and persons will have to take personal responsibility in protecting themselves against the virus, including getting vaccinated.
“At some point, we have to remove the measures, and it becomes your personal responsibility to wear your masks every day, your responsibility to sanitise, to maintain an awareness of social distance, and to take the vaccines because I can’t keep locking down the country to protect you all the time.”
As of October 2, Jamaica has 84,701 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 28,962 active cases.