Some recent COVID-19 deaths could’ve been prevented if the infected persons had been immunised against the virus, according to Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony, who has once again urged persons to get vaccinated.
“We have had a number of deaths and if you had been fully vaccinated some of those deaths would’ve been prevented so it’s important that people get vaccinated because it’s going to protect you. You won’t get the severe form of the disease, [it can] prevent [persons] from going to the hospital and prevent you from dying,” said Anthony during yesterday’s COVID-19 update.
He reiterated that vaccines that are currently available in the country are safe and effective. Referring to the recent increase of COVID-19 cases, he added that hospitalisation can also be avoided if persons get immunised.
The government began vaccinating persons age 60 and over in the second week of March and last week began vaccinating persons age 40 and over.
Anthony stated that Region Four has the highest number of active cases presently but noted that Region Three and Seven follow closely behind while the remaining regions remain fairly stable in terms of active cases. However, with the recent rise in cases, the ministry continues to monitor all the regions and testing is ongoing.
Meanwhile, the minister said the Health Ministry has observed that many persons are not abiding by the COVID-19 preventative measures and so this is also why transmission of the virus has increased.
“What vaccination will do is to help reduce the severity of the disease and, therefore, if people get vaccinated we will see less people getting into the hospital. We have seen an increase in hospitalisation and to avoid that we want people to get vaccinated,” he said while noting that there are around five severely ill patients in the Linden Hospital Complex who might not have been there if they were vaccinated.
The Minister stated that Region Ten is one of the Regions that does not have a high number of persons vaccinated against COVID-19 but the ministry is working with various stakeholders to see how this can be increased.
“Once people are convinced of the efficacy of these vaccines that they will come forward,” he stated.
