Westmoreland Health Promotion Officer Assures Residents of Vaccines’ Safety
By: , March 13, 2021
Photo: Serena Grant
Health Promotion and Education Officer at the Westmoreland Health Department, Gerald Miller, addresses a COVID-19 vaccination session at the Savanna-la- Mar Health Centre in the parish on March 11.The Full Story
Health Promotion and Education Officer at the Westmoreland Health Department, Gerald Miller, is assuring residents of the parish that the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines coming into the island are safe and effective.
“My advice to persons out there who are skeptical, is to take the jab,” he told JIS News.
“A lot of people worldwide are taking the vaccines. I have done my own research about the vaccines and I made my decision based on what I have seen globally and the fact that the vaccines are having a positive effect in other countries,” he noted.
“We have seen evidence of the vaccines reducing hospitalisations as well as the transmission of COVID-19, so I am very happy to be a part of that move by our Government to give us the vaccines. I want to encourage everyone to take the jab because that is how we are going to get protection from this disease,” he added.
Mr. Miller was the first health care worker at the Savanna-la- Mar Health Centre to be inoculated on the first day of the vaccine programme on Wednesday (March 10).
He told JIS News that he was happy to receive the injection. He noted that in the early stages of the pandemic “I had said that whenever a vaccine became available, I was going to be the first person to take it and so on Wednesday, I decided to be the first person at the centre to take the vaccine.”
Mr. Miller told JIS News that he is not experiencing any adverse side effects from the vaccine.
“Since taking the vaccine I have not felt anyway different, apart from little aches in my knee, but outside of that I am (feeling) fit and I have been doing my normal duties,” he said.
Meanwhile, Community Health Aide (CHA) at the Westmoreland Health Department, Corretta James-Yapp, who also received the vaccine on March 10, admitted that she was hesitant at first, however, her apprehension was superseded by the need to protect herself and her family against the virus.
She told JIS News that she is not having any side effects from the injection. “I do not have any regrets and I am encouraging all other CHAs in Westmoreland to take their vaccine to help protect our nation and our families.”