Cabbies, bus drivers demand vaccine
Published:Wednesday | February 17, 2021 | 5:01 AMJudana Murphy/Gleaner Writer
President of the Transport Operators Development Sustainable Services (TODSS), Egeton Newman, is disappointed that cabbies and busmen have not been listed among the first recipients of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Jamaica is expected to begin administering the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which has been approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization, this month.
“We interface with the public every single day. When we did our research, a taxi operator interfaces with a minimum of 40 passengers every day and a maximum of 80,” he told The Gleaner on Tuesday.
Bus operators come in contact with 80 to 120 passengers daily, he said.
Speaking in the House of Representatives on February 2, Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton had said that 125,000 people could receive the jab by March. Each person is to receive two doses of the vaccine eight weeks apart.
Healthcare workers, the police, soldiers, correctional officers, customs and immigration officers, parliamentarians, persons in infirmaries, and the elderly are at the top of the priority list.
“We believe that more than the police, we interface with the wider public, and we believe that we should be considered among the priority group,” the transport association head added.
Doubts
Newman said though some bus drivers, cabbies, and conductors have doubts about getting the jab, the majority are in favour of vaccination.
He said when drivers sit in a bus with 29 passengers, travelling long distances to Mandeville or Montego Bay, they are in danger.
“Schools are pointing fingers at public transportation, so we want to be vaccinated,” he appealed.
In a COVID-19 press briefing last August, National Epidemiologist Dr Karen Webster Kerr shared that an analysis indicated that individuals travelling in a taxi with an infected COVID-19 patient are three and a half times more likely to contract the virus than persons living with someone who has tested positive.
She had also urged Jamaicans to avoid travelling in overcrowded taxis, to wear masks during journeys, and to ensure that vehicle windows are open to allow for ventilation.