Vaccine conspiracies put sex workers at risk

The majority of Jamaica’s 700 sex workers have no plans to take the COVID-19 vaccine, a worrying revelation that presents health ministry officials with grave concerns for a high-risk group that operates in the shadows.

“Most are opposed to getting the vaccine because of the numerous side effects that they have heard about,” director of the Sex Workers Association of Jamaica (SWAJ), Miriam Haughton, told The Gleaner on Thursday.

Haughton said that an informal survey found that 20 per cent of sex workers have indicated a willingness to take the jab. However, it is unclear how many have actually received COVID-19 shots.

Haughton said that the association has had sensitisation sessions with some of the workers to better educate them about the vaccine but is battling significant mistrust and doubt spawned by anti-vaxxer information on the Internet.

The SWAJ, which represents male, female, and transgender sex workers, is appealing for more resources and financing to hit the roads and aggressively campaign for vaccine compliance.

Prostitution is illegal in Jamaica, but sex workers are often allowed to operate by law enforcers, even deep into coronavirus curfew hours.

Haughton stressed that sex workers follow COVID-19 protocols of mask wearing and sanitisation, but social distancing is impossible.

“But it is very hard as some members have told me they have sexual intercourse wearing a mask,” she said.

Haughton said she supports COVID-19 vaccination even though she has not yet taken the jab. She said she plans to do so soon.

At Ripon Road, an unofficial red-light district in Kingston, sex workers expressed distrust of COVID-19 vaccines, insisting that they would be protected by face masks and regular sanitisation.

“I don’t feel like it right fi nobody – even fi me and my child weh live inna di ghetto – fi tek ‘cause me just feel like it no good. If you listen to the Government overseas, dem a say like a wi a di test object, so if it nuh work pon we, dem nah get it over there,” said a sex worker, who requested anonymity because of the stigma of prostitution, on Thursday evening.

“Why dem no find nuh vaccine fi HIV all now? How dem find this suh quick?” she asked.

Another said: “Me nah tek it. Mi fraid and mi hear say if you tek it, you cah get pregnant,” showing a Gleaner reporter a video sent to her by an ex-boyfriend claiming that HIV was spread through the vaccine.

Some of the workers who were present also confessed that they did not believe COVID-19 was real, with one suggesting that it was just the common flu.

Claims about experimentation, HIV infection, and pregnancy complications are among the many conspiracy theories spun by anti-vaxxers locally and globally, all of which have been proven to be untrue.

Scientists have been working on a SARS-CoV vaccine for more than two decades, rubbishing claims by detractors that the inoculant was hatched overnight.

tanesha.mundle@gleanerjm.com