by Kevon Browne
St. Kitts-Nevis (WINN) – Thirty-three thousand, that’s the number of people that have to be fully vaccinated before the Federation can achieve herd immunity and fully re-open the local economy.
St. Kitts and Nevis received 43,600 vaccines, donated 2,000 to Grenada, and kept 41,600 doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine for local use.
With two doses required for full vaccination, vaccines are actually available for 20,800 people – two-thirds of the target.
Another 25,000 doses would have to be acquired and injected to get to the desired number.
With 30 percent of the population estimated to be below the age of 18 and not eligible for the vaccine, the adult population(70 percent of the nation) would need to be vigilant and maintain protective measures.
“We cannot forget the essential public health measures … the prevention and control measures for Sars-CoV-2. So yes, we still have to wear the face mask because our children are not being vaccinated,” CMO Dr. Hazel Laws speaking Wednesday (April 14) at a press briefing organized by the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC).
She added, “Some [people] are asking, “If I go and take the vaccine, why do I still have to wear the face mask?” Because guess what… the vaccine cannot be given to everybody. We still have those who are vulnerable amongst us, our children and our frail elderly. And so that’s the reason why we must still continue wearing the face mask, maintaining hand hygiene. maintaining the safe distance away from others. These measures automatically and generally [prevent] the spread of Sars-CoV-2 or any infectious disease for that matter.”
