Dr. Hazel Laws, Chief Medical Officer and head of the local CoVID19 Task Force, St. Kitts and Nevis
To date, 2,085 persons in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis have received their first dose of the Oxford University-AstraZeneca COVID-19 Vaccine, says Chief Medical Officer Dr. Laws, during her remarks at the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) COVID-19 Press Briefing on March 03, 2021.
In week one of the rollout, which started on February 22, 2021, 1,356 persons were vaccinated. On March 03 alone, 729 persons received their vaccine. Dr. Laws shared that she was proud to be in that batch.
“To date, we would have vaccinated 2,085 persons in our Federation,” she said. “In other words, we would have reached a 6.3 percent of our target population just in a matter of nine days.”
Dr. Laws noted that more persons are making an informed decision to take the vaccine. She said if persons have a cold or are experiencing respiratory tract infection and have a fever, they should postpone their vaccination. She added that if a person is pregnant or breastfeeding she should postpone getting the vaccine also.
Persons eligible to receive the vaccine should be between 18 and 80 years of age. If anyone has an allergic reaction to any of the components of the vaccine he or she should not take it.
Persons are also asked to visit their nearest health center if they would like to receive the vaccine irrespective of the priority group.
“This week Monday, we would have received an additional 20,000 doses of the vaccine. So, we are no longer adhering to the priority groups as we explained last week. So, irrespective of the priority group that you find yourself, once you are ready, once you are empowered with the information and you would have made an informed decision, all you need to do is go to the nearest health center to access the vaccine. You don’t even have to call 311. Just go to the nearest health center to access the vaccine.”
She said that persons will be given an appointment to come back in 10 weeks for the second dose.