By Rochelle Williams
KINGSTON, Jamaica, (JIS) – With recent data indicating that unvaccinated persons account for 97.7 percent of coronavirus (COVID-19) related deaths; the ministry of health and wellness is appealing for Jamaicans to take the jab to protect themselves against the virus. There have been 2,955 COVID-19 related deaths to date.
Chief Medical Officer (CMO), Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie, said that getting vaccinated in critical “because if the numbers are going up, you are going to have more positive persons”; noting, that “if you are vaccinated you are unlikely to get a severe illness and you are unlikely to die as a result of COVID-19. This is reflected in the number of persons being hospitalised. For the most part, the persons who are hospitalised as a result of COVID are unvaccinated”.
Dr Bisasor-McKenzie was addressing the ministry’s COVID conversations virtual press briefing on Thursday, April 28.
The CMO said that the virus reproductive rate is now at 1.4, which indicates that the reproductive rate in the general population is increasing.
“Over the last couple of days, we have seen a steady increase in the number of cases. Yesterday, April 27, we had a 14.8 positivity rate, which is a high positivity rate… that represents the steady increase over the last couple of days,” she pointed out.
There have been 129,862 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Jamaica to date, with 115 new cases recorded on Wednesday, April 27.
