I am taking the vaccine – Holness

Prime Minister Andrew Holness yesterday declared that he will be taking the COVID-19 vaccine and has encouraged all members of parliament to beseech upon their constituents the need to get the jab.

"It would help if the opinion leaders in this House would indicate to their constituents that they should take a more embracive and supporting posture towards vaccination," Holness said.

Jamaica is planning to vaccinate 16 per cent of the population this year, and Holness, responding to a question from his opposite number, Mark Golding, said it would help if the number could be higher.

Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie, Jamaica's chief medical officer, has said that about 500,000 Jamaicans will get two doses of the newly developed vaccine when it becomes available in Jamaica.

In the initial phase of the vaccination programme, the shot will be given to healthcare workers and the aged, persons with chronic diseases, and other members of the vulnerable population.

The prime minister said that a critical part of Jamaica's COVID-19 fight would be to get Jamaicans to take the jab. "You could end up having a problem, where we have the vaccine and people deciding not to take it. That could create another problem," Holness said. "I am making the decision to take the vaccine and I am encouraging everyone else."