Author: SKNISEditor

Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 06, 2021 (SKNIS): “Do Not Wait – Vaccinate” is the clarion call from health authorities in St. Kitts and Nevis as the Roll Up 2 Roll Out COVID-19 vaccination campaign hits the ten-week mark since it was launched on February 22, 2021. Statistics revealed by the Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr. Hazel Laws, showed that at the close of health centres on Wednesday, April 05, 2021, some 13,283 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to date. The number is 39.5 percent of the target population needed to reach herd immunity. Also included in the aforementioned…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 06, 2021 (SKNIS): Being fully vaccinated against COVID-19 comes with several benefits and protects citizens and residents from further health complications, said Dr. Cuthbert Sebastian Jr., Emergency Room Physician at the Joseph Nathaniel France (JNF) General Hospital while appearing on “Working for You” on May 5, 2021. “The benefits of being fully vaccinated are obviously the health benefits, which are you do not become severely ill from the COVID-19 infection, you don’t get hospitalized where we would have to put you on a ventilator and being on a ventilator comes with its own risk and own problems,…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 06, 2021 (SKNIS): Today’s safe and effective vaccines are the way out of the COVID-19 Pandemic, yet the extent of misinformation and disinformation around them has been significant. As such, Dr. Cuthbert Sebastian Jr., Emergency Room Physician at the Joseph Nathaniel France (JNF) General Hospital, encouraged the general public to always use reliable sources.Regarding information on COVID-19, Dr. Sebastian Jr. advised people to visit the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) websites for reliable and up-to-date information.“I usually tell them to go to the World Health Organization as a good source of…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 06, 2021 (SKNIS): Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Hazel Laws said that for schools to return to a sense of normalcy, parents and adults have to get vaccinated.The CMO was at the time speaking at the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) COVID-19 Press Briefing on May 05, 2021.She said that the COVID-19 Pandemic interrupted schools in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis in 2020 and some of this disruption still continues.Dr. Laws noted that the Washington Archibald High School and the Basseterre High School are still on a shift system where students are assigned to either…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 06, 2021 (SKNIS): Scientists are now looking at the possible link between the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine and blood clots. However, contracting COVID-19 poses a higher risk of getting blood clots than getting them from the vaccine, says Dr. Cuthbert Sebastian Jr., Emergency Room Physician at the Joseph Nathaniel France (JNF) General Hospital.Dr. Sebastian was at the time speaking on the May 05th edition of “Working for You.” He noted that scientists have not found the link and there are a few theories of what could have caused the blood clots, but that the evidence is not concrete.“There are…

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, May 6, 2021 (MMS-SKN) — Prime Minister and Minister of National Security, Dr the Hon Timothy Harris, on Wednesday May 5 joined family and friends, teachers and students of the Charles E. Mills Secondary School, and members of the Defence Force Cadet Corps at the thanksgiving service for the life, and later interment, of former Defence Force Cadet, Keyon Richards, in Sandy Point. The fourteen-year old Form Three student at the Charles E, Mills Secondary School in Sandy Point, who was also a member of Defence Force Cadet Corps, died on April 1 in a freak accident…

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, May, 06, 2021 (Press Unit in the Office of the Prime Minister) – Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, has expressed solidarity with the Government and people of India, as that country is currently gripped by a deadly upsurge in COVID-19 cases that has killed thousands over the last month. “Today we mourn with the people of India as India is recording the largest number of deaths since the COVID pandemic started,” Prime Minister Harris said on Tuesday, May 04, after he was administered his second dose of the Oxford/AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 05, 2021 (SKNIS): Dr. Cuthbert Sebastian Jr., Emergency Room Physician at the Joseph Nathaniel France (JNF) General Hospital, said that vaccines are safe and important and are used to build the natural immunity of a person’s body against disease infection. Dr. Sebastian Jr. was at the time discussing the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of vaccination during the May 05 edition of ‘Working for You’.“A vaccine is a method that we use to boost our natural defenses against a specific disease. What they do is take either a virus, bacteria or pathogen and take either a…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 05, 2021 (SKNIS): Businesses and households in St. Kitts and Nevis are encouraged to have fire extinguishers on hand at all times to safeguard lives and property.Members of St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services (SKNFRS) regularly tout the usefulness of fire extinguishers and have conducted several practical demonstrations on the proper use of the firefighting tool.Garfield Hodge, Acting Fire Chief of the SKNFRS, used his national address to commemorate International Firefighters’ Day on Tuesday, May 04, 2021, to reiterate the need for fire safety measures.“We urge all, business establishments, institutions, and residential homes, to invest…

Basseterre, St. Kitts, May 05, 2021 (SKNIS): According to St. Kitts and Nevis Fire and Rescue Services, the statistics show that incidences of fire are on the decline.In an address on Tuesday (May 04, 2021) to mark International Firefighters’ Day, Acting Chief Fire Officer, Garfield Hodge, said that 695 fires were recorded in 2019, which compared favourably to 643 fires reported in 2020. The decline represents a 33.4 percent reduction.“This significant reduction can be attributed to the effective operation of my department’s Fire Prevention Unit,” Mr. Hodge stated. “I wish to commend my hard-working, committed, and dedicated officers for their commitment…