Health Ministry Aims for 40% of Jamaicans to be Vaccinated Before Christmas

• Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie, has said that the Ministry of Health and Wellness is aiming to have 30.0% to 40.0% of Jamaica’s population receive at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine before the Christmas holiday. This will help to prevent an increase in hospitalisations, as more persons will be inclined to travel and do much shopping for holiday preparations.
• To date, the Ministry has reported that the number of cases, deaths and hospitalisations are decreasing; however, the current number of cases still significantly impacts hospital services. As it stands, Jamaica needs to bring its cases down to less than 200 cases to be in the safe zone, where providing health care to persons infected withCOVID-19 won’t severely impact the rest of the activities in the hospitals. 
• Meanwhile, Dr. Bisasor-McKenzie noted that 80,000 of 120,000 persons who received the jab in August 2021 are due for their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine. In total, 7.5% of the population are currently partly vaccinated, while 11.4% are fully vaccinated. Greater vaccination will help to reduce the deaths and hospitalisations and the pandemic’s impact on health services. 
• If the government is able to achieve its target, it would put it in a position to relax containment measures, which would increase commercial activity and result in a faster rebound in economic activity.

(Source: JIS News & NCBCM Research)