Medical Officer Calls On Unvaccinated Persons To Take The Jab

Medical Officer of Health for Westmoreland, Dr. Marcia Graham, is calling on unvaccinated persons in the parish to take the jab as soon as possible, as COVID-19 is still affecting the island.

Dr. Graham, who was addressing the monthly meeting of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation in Savanna-la-Mar recently, noted that vaccination numbers in the parish had dwindled.

“We have seen a downturn in the number of persons coming forward for vaccination, and so I want to continue to appeal to them not to miss the opportunity, especially the vulnerable persons, those [aged] 60 and over, and those with chronic diseases,” she said.

“Those with diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, sickle cell, [epilepsy], chronic diseases of different types of all age groups, we encourage you, if you haven’t yet received a dose of COVID-19 vaccine, then please speak with us,” Dr. Graham urged.

Meanwhile, she informed that the parish is on the “downside” of the COVID-19 pandemic’s fourth wave.

“We are now down to six active cases [of COVID-19]. A month ago, we had 61, so we are seeing the downturn and we give God thanks,” Dr. Graham said.

“We currently have three confirmed cases in hospital, and we have another eight persons for whom we are awaiting results. So, our need for isolation space has gone down significantly, and it therefore gives us the opportunity to have bed space for other persons with other diseases,” the Medical Officer added.

She noted, however, that the surgery ward at the Savanna-la-Mar Public General Hospital is at capacity, emphasising that “we need to do something about the crashes and the accidents, because the surgery ward is over 100 per cent capacity”.

Dr. Graham also noted that elective surgeries at the hospital remain on hold, due to the lack of bed space on the surgery ward.