2,718 Persons Receive COVID-19 Vaccine On First Day

Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. the Hon. Christopher Tufton, has reported that 2,718 persons, or 83 per cent of those targeted to be inoculated with the COVID-19 vaccine on the first day of activating the COVID-19 Vaccine Implementation Programme on Wednesday (March 10), received the vaccine.

He was speaking at the weekly COVID Conversations virtual press briefing on Thursday (March 11), from the offices of the Ministry of Health and Wellness in Kingston, when he gave the update.

The goal was to inoculate approximately 3,280 members of the priority group of primarily healthcare workers.

The vaccination programme started at 8:00 a.m. and ended at approximately 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday.

“We started [inoculating with the vaccine] exactly one year after the first COVID case was discovered, March 10, 2020. We started the vaccination programme on March 10, 2021, a real significant occurrence and coincidentally so…one year we have been at it, and we are now embracing vaccines as an important part of a response to COVID,” Dr. Tufton said

“We had 39 vaccination sites across the island… 33 were originally planned, but for whatever reason, the regions adjusted, so we actually exceeded the number of sites that were originally planned,” he added.

Dr. Tufton said the western region exceeded its target of 530 by inoculating some 804 persons, which represents 152 per cent of their target.