Get your second dose of the vaccine – WRHA boss

WESTERN BUREAU:

With western Jamaica’s second wave of COVID-19 vaccination now on the way, St Andrade Sinclair, the acting regional director of the Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA), is urging persons in the over-60 age group to come out and get their shots.

Sinclair, who recently succeeded Errol Greene in the WRHA’s management, made the call on Wednesday while visiting the Cornwall Regional Hospital’s vaccination centre on the grounds of the neighbouring West Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, where 140 doses of the second COVID-19 vaccine were given to waiting recipients.

OLDER TARGET GROUP

“What we are seeing is a lot of younger people being more receptive when they come out [for vaccination], as you would have seen in the last vaccination-blitz operation. The target group we really want is those who are 60 and older, but for some reason, they are not coming out the way we would like to see them come out,” Sinclair told The Gleaner.

“The 60-year-olds and older are the vulnerable ones that need to come out, as they are the ones with the comorbidities, and they are susceptible, so we need to see them coming out. Yes, the younger ones are coming, but they may still carry the virus just the same, and they are strong,” added Sinclair.

Sinclair’s call comes a week after the Ministry of Health and Wellness revealed in a virtual press conference that the coverage rate for take-up of the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine was 15.9 per cent among Jamaicans 60 to 69 years old, 22.6 per cent among those 70 to 79 years old, and 17.9 per cent among those 80 and older.

During last month’s national drive to distribute 50,000 COVID-19 vaccines between April 9 and 13, the WRHA recorded 5,187 vaccine doses being given out across St James, Trelawny, Hanover and Westmoreland, the parishes under its control. Over 75,000 persons were reported as having received their first dose of the vaccine up to April 11, during that initiative. That figure surpassed the initial projections for inoculation.

In addition, while acknowledging that some people are wary about taking the vaccine, Sinclair said that global herd immunity is the only way to curtail the spread of the pandemic.

HERD IMMUNITY

“I know there are a lot of sceptics, but despite that, everybody recognises what is happening in Jamaica, and we have seen the mortality rate from this pandemic. The only way you can correct this globally is by reaching herd immunity, and that is what we are trying to get to, and the quicker you come out and get the vaccination, the better,” said Sinclair.

As of Wednesday, 47,672 infections and 902 deaths from COVID-19 have been recorded in Jamaica, with 22,766 cases currently active. Of the total number of cases under the WRHA’s jurisdiction to date, 4,539 have been recorded in St James; 2,035 in Westmoreland; 1,626 in Trelawny; and 1,267 in Hanover.

editorial@gleanerjm.com