Pregnant women encouraged to get vaccinated

Pregnant women are being encouraged to get vaccinated following an increase in coronavirus (COVID-19) hospital admissions of expectant mothers.

The call was made by Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie during a virtual ‘COVID Conversations’ press briefing by the Ministry of Health and Wellness on October 14.

Bisasor-McKenzie said while there is a decrease in child hospitalisations, the ministry has observed that more women who are “pregnant or just delivered [are] being hospitalised with COVID-19”.

She pointed out that all COVID-19 vaccines are safe to be administered during pregnancy and the period of breastfeeding.

The CMO is urging all pregnant women to consult their doctors before being vaccinated and help protect themselves and their unborn child.

Bisasor-McKenzie said, to date, 99.3 per cent of persons hospitalised are unvaccinated.

Overall, 12.3 per cent of Jamaicans are fully vaccinated, while 8.2 per cent have taken one dose of a vaccine.

“We’re still at a level where we are seeing that the number of cases has a significant impact on hospital services. We really need to get down to less than 200 cases to be in the [safe] zone, where we won’t severely impact the rest of the activities in the hospitals to accommodate COVID-19 cases,” the CMO said.