Persons Urged To Help Elderly Relatives Access COVID-19 Vaccine

The Western Regional Health Authority (WRHA) is appealing to relatives of the elderly and shut-ins to facilitate the process for them to receive the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine.

Speaking with JIS News, Regional Health Promotion and Education Officer at the WRHA, Marcelene Wheatle, said it is critical that persons within this target group get vaccinated, because they are classified as vulnerable.

“You have your elderly persons at home who need the vaccine but they are maybe unable to go online and register or reach our health facilities or vaccination sites, so we are asking you younger persons to facilitate this process,” she appealed.

Mrs. Wheatle said that the elderly have been expressing a willingness to get inoculated since the vaccination programme began in March, but noted that in many cases “the support is not there”.

“So we are appealing to family members not to stop them from coming but to help them in getting the vaccine,” she stressed.

Mrs. Wheatle said that the WRHA will continue to engage persons 50 years and older in getting vaccinated, in addition to other groups, in order to reduce COVID-19 infection rates.

Meanwhile, she is imploring persons who have already received their first dose of the vaccine not to opt out of the second jab.

“At this point, we are appealing to those persons who are due their second dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine to take it. If they don’t receive a call by their local health department, they should call or visit so they can get their second dose,” Mrs. Wheatle advised.

“We are now open at all the various sites across the region, and so we are really appealing to persons who would have taken their first dose, because they are not fully immunised if they do not get their second dose,” she said.

WHRA comprises Trelawny, Westmoreland, Hanover and St. James.