COVID vaccine concerns Old Harbour

While many persons are quick to roll up their sleeves to get their shots, scepticism remains widespread.

Here in Jamaica, more persons seem disinclined than willing to be inoculated against a virus, according to latest data, that has been linked to the death of 283 people on the island.

Still the rapid scale at which vaccines have been manufactured and approved along with other theories pushed by anti-vaccine campaigners has placed some doubt as well as fear among the population.

Yesterday a team from the Ministry of Health and Wellness was here in Old Harbour, reinforcing its public education message to contain the spread of the virus.
Persons, all masked up, were observed waiting patiently to know their coronavirus status, but when asked if they were prepared to take the vaccine there were very, very few takers.

Despite some of the big pharmaceutical companies boasting that their vaccine is more than 90 percent effective against the virus, Janice Pringle said she needs to have “all the facts” first.

“I need to know all the facts. And I am fearful because I don’t know. But when you have all the facts and understanding then you will go out and probably embrace it more,” said the Old Harbour native.

In addition to being very effective against COVID-19, Big Pharma like Pfizer and Moderna have reported that the side effects from their vaccines fall within the safety rules, with subjects reporting mild headache, muscle pain and fatigue after taking the vaccine.

Locally the Ministry of Health and Wellness said Jamaica will likely get its first shipment – some one million vials of covid-19 vaccine – sometime during the second half of 2021. Preferential treatment will be given to frontline workers and the elderly. As for the general population, however, not many are seemingly interested at the moment.

“The vaccine hasn’t been fully tested yet, so we not too sure about all the side effects, because you have side effects that don’t start take effect until like five years, 10 years down the road. So it’s not like this vaccine has like a 20-year trial period, so me personally don’t believe that I should be the guinea pig to take this vaccine so early,” Craig Atkinson, told Old Harbour News.

The COVID-19 vaccine is one of the fastest ever to be developed in history, leaving many questioning its efficacy. Talks of making the vaccine mandatory for travel and school is already facing strong opposition globally.

Paul Green, who travelled from Portmore to get tested, said he’s only here because his employers “made it mandatory for them to get tested”.

The pandemic has hit him hard in his pocket and he just wants to get on with life. “We still have to just stay socially distant and wear our mask,” Green said.

“It is very important to me because I need to have my job and without me doing this we can’t have any job,” stressed Gary Sinclair, a bus driver and colleague of Green.

Asked if he was willing to be vaccinated, Sinclair responded in the affirmative.

“Somehow we have to take it unless we not going to live in the country anymore. I don’t have a problem taking it,” he said before adding “if it wasn’t for COVID right now I’ll be on a trip working somewhere”.

The ministry’s country-wide initiative received support from the Old Harbour Chamber of Commerce on the day. But amid the distribution of hundreds of flyers it is going take quite some amount of work to convince persons like Pringle.

“I’m hearing that it’s going to be a part of my DNA and I don’t like that,” she said, while declaring “I don’t believe in vaccination”.

“I think this is a brainwashing thing. God has made us so good that our body is able to fight off just about anything as long as our immune system is good.”

And the resolve of anti-vaxers has been further bolstered by a CNBC report which revealed that persons won’t be compensated by the pharmaceutical companies or the government should they suffer severe covid-19 vaccine side effects.