Parents, students jubilant about vax blitz
Published:Monday | August 23, 2021 | 12:06 AMDavid Salmon/Gleaner Writer
Across the Corporate Area, scores of children came out with their parents to be inoculated as the Government began its national vaccination drive for adolescents 12 to 18 years old. This is viewed by many as the safest way to have the students return to in-person classes.
Peter Bailey is one parent who jumped at the opportunity to have his children inoculated. Speaking at St George’s College, one of the three vaccination centres in Kingston, he told The Gleaner, “I want them to go back to face-to-face learning, and the purpose of the vaccine is to give them some protection from the virus. I have seen what it has done to people close to me.”
His 15-year-old daughter, Cedar Grove High School student Kahllah Bailey, said that like all her friends, she was eager to take the vaccine as it provided the best chance for in-person school. “I was very excited, because online school is a struggle. It is not a very good learning environment at home. There is a lot of noise in the background, so I can’t really focus,” she said.
Students have been experiencing online learning for the past 16 months.
Dr Kimberly Myers explained that by midday, an estimated 200 students were vaccinated at the centre. However, she noted that stocking up for the no-movement days and the rain may have dampened the turnout. The daily target for each vaccination site was 1,000 students.
EXCELLENT TURNOUT
Any concern about the low turnout was dashed at Merl Grove High School as parents queued in long lines, despite the drizzling rain. The medical doctor responsible for the centre, Dr Yohance Rodriguez, described the turnout as “excellent,” as within the first two hours, about three to four hundred students were vaccinated.
The number of students even exceeded the space dedicated for the overflow of persons . “We have seen all age groups of students since this morning, including students under 12 and up to 18 years old. Of course, in keeping with the ministry’s directive, we started vaccination at age 12, not below,” he said.
For healthcare worker Shailendra Murdock, vaccinating her 14-year-old child, Zofia, represented the best way to protect her family. “I am a healthcare worker on the front line and I have a great fear that I am going to take the virus home to Zofia, so as soon as it finally became available for her, she is here today,” she said.
Even though her daughter’s school did a great job with facilitating online learning, Murdock believes that she could have done even better with in-person classes. She added, “I am happy that the vaccine is here now, because I am even more comfortable in case she has to go face-to-face.”
Online learning was a “different” experience for Zofia, as she longed to interact with her friends. Likewise, her cousin, Stephanie Masters, believed that taking the vaccine was the right choice. “It is to protect against a virus that has killed millions of people, I think it is a good investment,” the 15-year-old stated.
This desire to return to face-to-face classes was also shared by the staff of Merl Grove High School, as Vice Principal Lorretta Ricketts expressed that they were eager to be vaccinated. “I know among themselves they are looking at their own safety and the safety of their children, because they themselves have families. So, if their children are coming out, then they themselves want to be vaccinated.”