PUBLIC EDUCATION CAMPAIGN ON COVID-19 VACCINATION NEEDS TO BEGIN, SAYS CHAIR OF COVID-19 NATIONAL TASK FORCE

Basseterre, St. Kitts, January 28, 2021 (SKNIS): Abdias Samuel, Chairman of the National COVID-19 Task Force in St. Kitts & Nevis, said there is a need to begin the public education campaign on COVID-19 vaccinations in the country while indicating that he will lead by example in taking the jab.   

Mr. Samuel welcomed the continued roll-out of vaccines designed to fight COVID-19 during Wednesday’s (January 27, 2021) National Emergency Operations Centre Weekly COVID-19 Briefing.

“We need to begin the campaign to educate persons that the vaccines are safe for us to take,” he said, during the briefing. “… We need to take the vaccine. For now, the vaccines and the non-pharmaceutical measures are the only things that will take us to a state of normalcy,” said Mr. Samuel

Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr. Hazel Laws, speaking also at the briefing, highlighted the three main COVID-19 vaccines that are being administered to populations around the world. These are the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Moderna vaccine, and the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine.

Chairman Samuel encouraged persons to pay attention to the science and advice from credible experts and doctors rather than myths circulating online about the vaccines.  

“I’m encouraging all to debunk all the negativity surrounding the vaccines, and let us prepare as a nation to take the vaccine when it comes and to support our health professionals in this regard,” he expressed.

It is expected that St. Kitts and Nevis will have access to the vaccines in the second quarter of 2021. The Federation has signed on to the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX) and will receive enough vaccines to cover 20 percent of the population in the initial stages.

CMO Laws and Medical Chief of Staff at the Joseph N. France General Hospital, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson, have stated that they are willing to take the jab publicly to help put resident’s minds at ease about the vaccine.
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