Member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (SAGE) Working Group on COVID-19 Vaccines, Professor Peter Figueroa, says the AstraZeneca vaccine is very effective and safe for almost everyone to receive, including pregnant and breastfeeding women. Participating in an online forum on May 7, he points out that more than 100 million persons have received the...

The Child Protection and Family Services Agency (CPFSA) recently received a boost to its capacity to provide psychological support for children in State care. Electronic psychological assessment tools, valued at just over US$11,000, have been provided to the Agency under the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Network Infrastructure Expansion project, which is being implemented as part of the public-sector transformation...

As Jamaica prepares for the “home-porting” of a Norwegian Cruise Line vessel in Montego Bay in August, stakeholders say that the country should look to pursue other such arrangements with additional cruise lines, in order to bring economic benefits to local businesses and communities. Home-porting is when a ship uses a port/marine terminal as its home, regardless of its port of registry. This allows passengers...

Healthcare for renal patients in the southern region of Jamaica has received a boost with the recent installation of eight new dialysis machines at the Mandeville Regional Hospital. The hospital serves approximately 900 renal patients annually from the parishes of Manchester, Clarendon and St. Elizabeth. The machines, valued at $23.1 million, were purchased through funding from the Culture, Health, Arts,...

For Little London High School Teacher, Moya Williams, receiving the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine meant taking the first step towards the possibility of physically reuniting with her students, after more than one year of teaching online. The 27-year-old was quick off the blocks to get the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine at a recent Vaccination Blitz at the Sean Lavery...

“I don’t want to catch that awful thing,” 79-year old Lorna Rowe tells JIS News before entering the National Arena on Saturday (April 3) to receive her first dose of the AstraZeneca coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine. She was among more than 1,000 elderly persons, who came out to be inoculated against the deadly virus during the Ministry of Health and Wellness’...

Business sector leaders say the E-Commerce National Delivery System (ENDS) can potentially assist in revolutionising economic activity in Jamaica, by facilitating the transition of more informal operators into the formal sector. ENDS is a partnership between the Government and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ). It allows the quick service industry and delivery operators registered on the web-based platform...

Partners in the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) US$15 million Positive Pathways initiative, have pledged to ensure that it works for the improvement of communities, and the building of stronger families. The programme will run for five years across five parishes and seeks to complement existing initiatives to prevent youth involvement in crime and violence, by building community,...

Health coach, Natalie Murray, is a strong believer in the adage that nothing happens before its time. “I also believe that everything happens exactly the way it is supposed to when you trust and believe,” she tells JIS News. The Director of the recently opened Life Store Wellness Centre Boutique on Constant Spring Road, says that “the third time was...