70 PERCENT OF ADULT POPULATION VACCINATED WILL PROVIDE PROTECTION FOR 30 PERCENT OF PERSONS UNDER 18, SAYS CMO DR. LAWS

Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 07, 2021 (SKNIS): Health authorities in St. Kitts and Nevis are pleased with the pace of the Roll Up to Roll Out COVID-19 vaccination programme, which as of April 06, 2021, has registered 9,774 jabs of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

The total represents 29.6 percent of the population.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws, said that the goal is to vaccinate 33,037 persons or 70 percent of the population in order to reach herd immunity. However, the CMO said that the national effort requires an all of society approach.

“Some say that they are going to be part of the 30 percent [not taking a jab],” Dr. Laws stated on the April 06 edition of Leadership Matters. “That worries me because our children under 18 [years] already make up 30 percent, and so if you are going to be an adult and choose to be a part of that it means you’re making that choice will hinder us in reaching our herd immunity threshold.”

CMO Laws added, “if we are successful in vaccinating 70 percent of the population, you will be providing indirect protection for our children who are under 18 and the few, maybe one percent of adults, who have chronic conditions and are unable to take the vaccine. Those are the individuals who should rely on the other adults for protection.”

A cancer patient receiving chemotherapy was an example given for an adult who should not take a jab at this time.

Medical Chief of Staff at the Joseph N. France General Hospital, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson, said that the federal vaccination rate compares favourably with other countries with similar rollout campaigns. He noted that officials are hoping to open up the country in October 2021 provided that the herd immunity threshold is met.