Vaccine hesitant shuns rumours to protect her daughters
Scores of children turn up for targeted inoculation blitz
Published:Sunday | August 22, 2021 | 12:06 AMAlbert Ferguson - Gleaner Writer
Former vaccine hesitant Vivia Kerr and her two daughters – Nadia and Natania – were among those who queued up yesterday, eager to get their first dose of the COVID-19 Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in preparation for face-to-face classes when the new academic year begins in September.
Kerr said she finally made the decision to stop listening to rumours about the coronavirus vaccine and take the necessary steps to protect herself and her daughters who attend Anchovy and Mount Alvernia high schools.
“I am here with my daughters to be vaccinated because this is really a serious problem we have in the country. I now realise that getting vaccinated will help us not to get sick or even if we do, we will not end up in the hospital. I just want to make sure that my girls and myself are protected,” Kerr told The Gleaner, as she waited at the Mount Alvernia High School in Montego Bay, St James, one of several vaccination blitz sites across the island.
“I was a bit scared, because you hear all kinds of rumours but you can’t follow rumours, you just have to trust the system, knowing that the Ministry of Health is doing its best to protect the people.”
Kerr said of her daughters, “The bigger one wants to take the vaccine, but the little one is still afraid, but she will be OK. Now that we are here with her, she will take it.”
On Saturday, the Government launched a four-day islandwide COVID-19 vaccination blitz targeting children 12 years and older with comorbidities. Students, aged 15-18 years who will be sitting exit exams, will also be prioritised. The youth-centred inoculation drive ends on Tuesday.
The youngsters are being inoculated with the Pfizer vaccine that arrived in Jamaica on Thursday, which were donated by the United States Government. Jamaica received 208,260 doses, which are part of a total allocation of over 600,000 vaccines.
Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, in encouraging parents to take their children to be vaccinated, assured that the Pfizer vaccine is proven to be safe and effective and is approved for administration to the youngsters.
“It has gone through all the clinical trials, all the expert assessments and is deemed to be safe for use in [children and teens]…hence the prioritisation of this particular brand on our young people,” he said last week.
“The focus is on them as a priority this weekend, because we want to make sure that they have an opportunity, firstly, to secure themselves healthwise, but secondly and very importantly, to be able to resume face-to-face classes as quickly as possible, hopefully in September of this year.”
Teachers and parents who accompany their children will also be accommodated.
Education Minister Fayval Williams said staging the four-day vaccination blitz for children “is a very important development in our collective efforts to ensure that more of our people get vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. Parents, now is your time to recognise the urgency of the time and take your children to be vaccinated. We expect you to turn out in your numbers across Jamaica. Help us to get our schools open again.”
Kayon Whyne, principal of Mount Alvernia High School, was encouraged by Saturday’s exercise and urged other principals to partner with the St James health department to facilitate the vaccination of the students.
“I was pleasantly surprised when I understood that people were here from 6:00 a.m. to be vaccinated. My students would have been here at that time and I am very pleased because we really want to get our students vaccinated so that we can have face-to-face teaching and learning opportunities going on,” she said.
WORKING ON THE HESITANT
Whyne acknowledged that there were a few students who were still hesitant in taking the vaccine largely because of what is being spread on social media.
“Yes, there is still some level of hesitancy because students tend to look at what is going on, on social media and take their decision from that. We have been encouraging as best as we can, but you know we can’t force any of them to take the vaccine,” she said.
“We are expecting that at the end of the blitz, most of the grades 10-13 cohort will be vaccinated.”
Lennox Wallace, parish manager at the St James public health services, said the intent is to administer 8,000 doses across the region for the four-day blitz.
“When I saw the crowd, I felt very happy,’’ Wallace said, “given the high level of vaccine hesitancy. We want to do over 8,000 people within the next four days and I am sure we are going to exceed it.”
“We have enough vaccines to administer to all persons in Montego Bay (students and parents) for the rest of the year and beyond,” he added.
Yesterday, the health ministry said, 13,000 to 14,000 doses ere administered across the island on the first day of the youth-targeted blitz. Up to Friday, 420,627 Jamaicans have been vaccinated.
To date, Jamaica recorded more than 1,300 coronavirus related deaths. There are approximately 12,000 active COVID-19 cases, including the Delta variant, from an overall case count of 61,282.