Smooth sailing for first mass vaccination
Published:Saturday | March 27, 2021 | 3:01 PMNadine Wilson Harris/Staff Reporter
Senior citizens arrived at the National Arena in St Andrew from as early as 8:00 a.m. to get their jab, as the government rolled out its first vaccination blitz to inoculate the elderly.
The exercise was scheduled to go up to 3:00 p.m. today and targeted vaccination of 1,000 elderly persons 75 years and older. At least 800 people had registered up to this morning, and by 1:00 p.m. more than 400 were vaccinated.
The senior citizens, accompanied by their caregivers, sat patiently as they were processed, first by members of the Jamaica Defence Force, and then health officials.
Retired nurse, 66 year-old Doreen Domville, who had accompanied her husband Audley to the location, said she was not surprised that the process was incident-free.
“As I said to my husband, I know it is going to work, why? Because it is 75 years and older and we are the disciplined type,” she said.
Her 90 year-old husband was looking forward to receiving the vaccine and his wife, who was a nurse for more than 40 years, ensured that she had rubbing alcohol and Panadol just in case they were needed.
Smooth process
Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said he was pleased with how the process went.
“I think the team coming in are very orderly; their caregivers are following instructions. We have had a number of persons who were not registered and we have tried to accommodate them,” he said.
“We’ve had no major adverse reactions, so I’m pleased with what I see,” he said.
Regional nursing supervisor Marcia Thomas Yetman said consideration was being given to persons who did not make appointments, but may be eligible based on their age.
“That is done on an individual basis and the persons are interviewed and then the process continues after that,” she said.
The vaccination crew included seven midwives, 13 public health nurses, two nurse managers, more than 40 nurses and several doctors.
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