Private vax drive gets shot in the arm

Long lines for a vaccination campaign offered optimism on Thursday as staffers of the coronavirus-hit Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS) poured out for jabs in a bid to shield themselves as Jamaica’s COVID-19 crisis escalates.

The robust response - an about-turn from the overwhelming hesistancy to vaccination at the business process outsourcing firm – came in the wake of an outbreak of 100 cases and the death of manager Marvel Gordon, who had been tasked with driving the firm’s inoculation drive.

Head of the Private Sector Vaccine Initiative’s (PSVI) Logistics and Operations Committee, Peter Melhado, noted that by 2:30 p.m. Thursday, 250 persons had been vaccinated at the company.

“We have had a really good turnout,” Melhado told The Gleaner.

“The next two weeks we are booked solid, going to two companies a day, so the take-up has been really significant. These are companies that need to do at least 350 vaccinations to visit them, so it is a strong take-up.”

Melhado believes that heightened concern amid the wave of infections and Wednesday’s confirmation of the Delta variant here could spur more Jamaicans to get immunised as thousands more vaccines become available.

He also sought to allay concerns that the private-sector campaign may be misdirecting human resources from the national vaccination thrust.

“We are using private doctors and private nurses under the supervision of the public-health authorities to run these sites, so we are really acting as an adjunct or an accelerator to the ministry’s programme,” said Melhado.

The island’s per-capita full vaccination rate, at around five per cent, lags all countries in the English-speaking Caribbean and presents a grim picture for the Holness administration, which has targeted 65 per cent herd immunity by March 2022.

Latania Mundell, an employee of HGS, was one of the new recruits to a slow-growing army of pro-vaxxers who got her shot on Thursday.

“With the new variant that is now here as well as the numerous cases, I just felt that I had to protect myself and the people that I love, so I decided to take the vaccine,” Mundell told The Gleaner.

Colleague employee Alex Baugh was also quite eager to take the vaccine at the first opportunity available.

“I just want to get rid of COVID, and I want to play my part in doing so. I decided to take the vaccine now because it was convenient because I work here and I do not have to travel,” he said.

That sort of affirmation is crucial to the positive drumbeat of the PSVI, whose administrators have revealed that several companies have sought to increase public awareness and workforce compliance.

Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ) President Keith Duncan emphasised that the successful implementation of the PSVI is dependent on increasing comfort among employees who are uneasy about the vaccine.

“What we found is that people have genuine questions and concerns that have to be addressed. So we need to go into the workforce prior to setting up a vaccination site,” Duncan told The Gleaner on Wednesday.

In February, a survey conducted by the PSOJ found that just about 30 per cent of the workforce was willing to take a vaccine, with another 33 per cent still weighing their options before they arrived at a decision.

Several pop-up surveys conducted by the organisation highlighted that misinformation has been driving vaccine hesitancy locally.

The PSVI has been hosting a series of Vax-Ceptance Sensitisations that allow for employees to have one-on-one conversations with doctors where they can raise concerns. Interested companies also receive a toolkit that can be used to prepare staff members before they become vaccinated.

HGS employee Patricia Brown has given the thumbs up to the PSVI’s online sensitisation session with Dr Andrew Manning, president of the Medical Association of Jamaica.

“The session was excellent. It was informative, and Dr Manning spent almost two hours with us. He answered all our questions,” said Brown.

“Eighty per cent of the 200 persons on the call were convinced to come here today and take the vaccine.”

Companies interested in booking appointments are urged to contact the PSVI through its website, psvija.com, or to call 876-339-0988.

david.salmon@gleanerjm.com