MOHW To Get Private-Sector Help In Vaccination Programme

Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, says a strategy to expand and ramp up the national vaccination programme is being developed with the assistance of key stakeholders.

The plan, he said, will be put into operation by the Ministry of Health and Wellness in collaboration with the other entities.

Noting that increasing the number of vaccinations among the population remains an “urgent, critical and immediate priority”, he said the strategy will necessitate outsourcing and contracting the services of private groups, including members of the private medical profession.

“The plan, in terms of its operationalisation… depended wholly and solely on the Ministry of Health and Wellness. Now, we have to expand that plan with the supervision, direction, standards and the parameters set/regulated by the Ministry of Health and Wellness,” he said.

The Prime Minister, who was addressing a virtual press conference on Wednesday (September 1), said this is necessary to meet the national vaccination goal.

“It is clear that if we are going to meet the vaccination goals, we have to pull in more stakeholders… . We are close to coming to a point now where we would have a very robust, well-thought-out system of expanding and ramping up the vaccination operationalisation plan,” he stated.

The Prime Minister noted that with the scaled-up private-sector vaccination initiative, the strategy will seek to employ a sectoral/industry approach to rapidly increase vaccination in the respective sectors.

As of September 1, approximately 549,837 doses of vaccines have been administered.