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Prime Minister Andrew Holness is assuring the country that he will get vaccinated but only when it is his turn to receive the COVID-19 jab, along with the other close to 6,000 front line public sector workers.
In his contribution to the 2021/22 budget debate in the House of Representatives yesterday, he stated: "I intend to get vaccinated, but I will await my turn in keeping with the prioritisation order [that has been] set. Some public officials, including ministers and Members of Parliament, have been vaccinated. I will be taking my vaccination with the front line public sector workers and Government officials," he told the House.
Holness said he was sensitive to calls for the national leaders to be vaccinated first as a signal to the nation that they are confident in the safety of the vaccine which Jamaicans are being asked to accept.
Public scepticism has intensified, with the arrival of two shipments of AstraZeneca vaccine, totalling 64,400 doses, in the island over the past week and a half, with some Jamaicans expressing cynicism that the prime minister and Health and Wellness Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, in particular, have yet to receive the jab. At the same time, there have been some objections to younger politicians receiving the vaccine before older people.
Holness stressed again that there must be equity in the distribution of vaccines, bearing in mind the history of the distribution of scarce commodities in Jamaica.
"With only 64,400 doses of the vaccine in hand, and a second dose required for full effectiveness we must be very strategic and fair in how we distribute the vaccine... I am extremely sensitive to the deeply embedded perceptions in the minds of our people that politicians and connected persons will get the vaccine before those who truly need it," he said.
"Indeed, the Leader of the Opposition will confirm that I extended an invitation to him to receive the vaccine with me and other national leaders immediately as the vaccines were ready to be administered after arrival. Within hours of this arrangement, I received several calls, including from leading health professionals, objecting to the notion that young politicians should get vaccines before healthcare workers and the elderly.
"So I reflected on what was said to me directly, and the commentaries in media. I discussed it with the Ministry of Health and Wellness and we agreed that we would make it clear that the principle of equity in distribution must not be compromised," Holness said.
Noting reports in the media this week that a vial with 10 doses of vaccines had gone missing from a vaccination site at Cornwall Regional Hospital in St James on Monday Holness said the Government would ensure that the vaccines are properly managed "because they're not all gifts, [and] even if they are gifts [that's] even more reason why we have to make sure they are properly managed".
The Ministry of Health and Wellness says it has launched an investigation and reassigned several members of staff at the Western Regional Health Authority who were assigned to the site.
Outlining the economic shocks from the COVID-19 crisis, and the Government's responses, Holness pleaded with Jamaicans to get vaccinated in order to help restore the economy.
"We can return to growth without unsustainably borrowing. We must get our people vaccinated so that we can rapidly return our economy to full operation. For those who harbour fears of the vaccine, the case fatality rate speak for themselves. Take the vaccine," he urged.
Meanwhile, the prime minister noted that hospital bed spaces for COVID-19 have been bumped up to 600, but that hospitalisation now exceed that capacity by up to 15 per cent in some instances. He signalled that with the current restriction measures under the Disaster Risk Management Act to expire on Monday, the country should expect new ones to be announced.
Just over 17,000 Jamaicans have been vaccinated since the start of the immunisation programme, led by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.