COVID-19: Caribbean health agency tackles vaccine hesitancy

In a bid to push for successful vaccination campaigns in the Caribbean, the region’s public health agency met last week for the 65th Health Research Conference to tweak its communication messages about the vaccines, “hoping to win over those who are reluctant to get vaccinated.”

In a report from the Inter Press News Agency (IPS), even as the region leans heavily on research and science for recovery, push back on the new drug remains. This includes what the Caribbean Regional Public Health Agency (CARPHA) consider as the ‘ever-present vaccine hesitancy.’

The Chair of the Public Education Sub-Committee of the National Coordinating Committee for the COVID-19 Vaccine Janelle Charles-Williams has suggested that authorities need to be more responsive to vaccine demand, and there must be a heightened traditional media and social visibility about the vaccination programs that can include the use of influencers.

“Although many Caribbean states have successfully avoided wide-spread transmission of COVID-19, I know the pandemic has hit you hard in other ways such as lower revenues from tourism. Even when/once the pandemic subsides, we know that you will still face many of the same health challenges you had before including climate change and non-communicable diseases,” World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus told the conference.

Public health officials say successful vaccination campaigns are a cornerstone for reopening, IPS reported, but some states appear to be hitting an inoculation plateau.

Antigua & Barbuda is among the CARPHA member states recording success in its vaccination campaign. Almost 60 percent of its adult population has received at least one dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

Some local governments in the Caribbean have gone an extra mile to have their citizens to come forward and get vaccinated.

In Grenada, the Ministry of Health has partnered with the National Lotteries Authority to encourage Grenadians to participate in the vaccination drive against COVID-19. Grenada Health Minister Nickolas Steele announced in a press briefing that anyone who has been vaccinated, either with the first shot or both doses, will “automatically be entered into a lottery draw” that will be held on June 27. The lucky vaccinated winner will take home EC$10,000 (US$3,700).
The Spice Isle has acquired its supply of AstraZeneca doses early this year, and to date only 9,000 people out of the estimated 80,000 people eligible to get the shots have been fully vaccinated.

Neighboring twin-island nation, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, which is still reeling from the aftermath of the La Soufrière volcano eruption, is considering a more stern approach in dealing with citizens who refuse to take the vaccine.

Workers who are not inoculated are subject to termination, as this is considered an “act of misconduct,” according to St. Vincent & the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves.

“In the case of both public and private sectors, the employer has a right to have a safe place of work, including a healthy place for you to work, an environment for you to work,” Gonsalves explained, adding that he is currently in talks with the Office of the Attorney General on the matter.

Earlier this month, St. Kitts & Nevis declared a state of emergency due to the rise of COVID-19 cases within its borders.