Last Updated on February 4, 2021, 7:15 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Basseterre: St Kitts and Nevis is poised to launch their national vaccine deployment plan, with 21,600 COVID-19 vaccines expected in the next month or two.
The vaccines developed by AstraZeneca and Oxford University will be made available through the COVID-19 Global Access (COVAX) facility.
On Tuesday (02 February 2021) issue of Leadership Matters, Dr Hazel Laws, chief medical officer, said the demand for a jab is far greater than the expected supply. As such, health authorities will rely on the established plan to inform who will receive a vaccine in this first phase.
Dr Cameron Wilkinson, chief medical officer of Joseph N. France General Hospital, added that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations would also be considered as the different groups and individuals are identified.
“The recommendation is that people at risk should be vaccinated first, so the frontline health workers are the ones who are usually first, and then the vulnerable people who are in nursing homes who may succumb to the disease,” he said.
Dr. Laws noted that vulnerable individuals include individuals suffering from multiple diseases and other chronic conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. People with an affected immune system are also a priority.
The CMO has indicated that vaccinations are unlikely to be mandatory. However, public education campaigns and other interventions will be used to ensure that the public has all the relevant information to make an informed decision about receiving a vaccine.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
