Bring on the vaccine!
Frankfield residents ready to embrace the COVID-19 shots
Published:Wednesday | March 10, 2021 | 12:26 AMCecelia Campbell-Livingston/Gleaner Writer
On March 10, 2020, Jamaica recorded its first case of the coronavirus. Days later, the Government ordered a halt to face-to-face classes in an effort to contain the spread of the virus.
Fast-forward to 2021 and the cases have swelled to 27,465 and some 460 deaths up to Monday. Fifty thousand doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived on the island on Monday. For some Frankfield residents, the vaccine is welcomed news.
One man who spoke with The Gleaner said he is tired of the suffering. “COVID mek we suffer around here a lot and if this vaccine have to make us better, then we will all have to take it, ‘cause we have been suffering around here badly, so we need something to let us travel up and down, ‘cause we a suffer around here,” he said.
Another resident, ‘Kevin’, told our news team, “If it really a guh help wi out nutten nuh wrong with it.” However, he is not willing to be in the early numbers to embrace it, noting that his approach will be a “wait-and-see” one. He is hoping the vaccine will work as he said, being a street man, he is tired of the curfew.
For Venton Blair, there is no difference with the vaccine from those he got when he was a child.
“We always get the vaccine from we small, it never do wi anything and people all over the world a tek it, so if I have to tek it for my safety... then I will.”
McCouty, who is completely sure the vaccine is all a grand plan to “kill off the people dem from off the earth”, says, “If dem feel sey it would hold back di people dem inna earth, den dem haffi do wey dem haffi do, but wi haffi gwaan follow di orders whey dem sey, wear yuh mask,” he concludes.
However, for Michael Williams, while he embraces the wearing of masks, he is not ready for the vaccine, as he does not know enough about it. Pointing out that vaccine takes a number of years to develop, he notes that the COVID vaccine took less than a year and, as such, he does not trust it.
“A not telling people not to take it, but me know mi not taking it, a don’t trust it,” he said.