PAHO director, Dr. Carissa Etienne, and PM Roosevelt Skerrit have signified that they are waiting and ready to receive COVID-19 vaccines when they become available in the Caribbean. The director of the regional health organization and the prime minister of Dominica said they desire to receive the vaccination first in order to boost public confidence in the safety of the vaccines.
Etienne and Skerrit stated this against the background that many people in Dominica and the Caribbean region erroneously think it is unwise to receive the vaccines. Etienne said there is no wisdom in rejecting the vaccines since the mutation of the coronavirus makes it deadlier if anyone contracts it, unless an individual has been vaccinated against the disease.
Take the vaccine by all means. I am waiting for mine…there are several reasons for taking the vaccine with the emergence of mutations, because that is one of the things that happens to viruses if there’s a magnitude and level of transmission, it is easy for the viruses to mutate.
Dr. Carissa Etienne, PAHO Director
A Dominican native and medical doctor based in the United States, Dr. Dale Dangleben, said he is aware of the conspiracy theories flying around regarding the safety of the vaccines. He said some people erroneously believe that policymakers in the West want to use the vaccines to decimate the populations of Africa and the Caribbean. He said this is not true and only a figment of a faulty imagination. He said getting vaccinated is the only chance against COVID-19 infection.
PM Skerrit said he is ready to receive the vaccines first to underscore the importance and wisdom of getting vaccinated. He said the vaccines will be available in Dominica by March and everyone should be ready to receive the inoculation when they become available.
I, Roosevelt Skerrit, will certainly take the vaccine and I would urge every citizen to do likewise. It will be a voluntary offering and the intention of the government is to ensure that it can make vaccines available to all our citizens and residents. It is important for us to take it and I will be certainly first in line if the government allows me.
Roosevelt Skerrit, Prime Minister of Dominica
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