The Jamaican government needs to come clean and tell the nation if persons have died from COVID vaccines and the number of citizens that have suffered injury from taking the jab.
Calls are being made from a number of medical doctors in the public health sector who will not be named.
While the health ministry claims that it had halted the use of the controversial Astra Zeneca vaccine in the island since July 2022, available data indicates that more than 90 per cent of Jamaicans who took the jab, had already been inoculated by July 2022.
The nation has seen frequent reports of sudden deaths, especially among young professionals, such as teachers and the security forces, however, there has been no indications from health officials as to whether these deaths were vaccine related.
Sudden death, in many other countries, has been identified as one of many adverse effects of the COVID vaccine.
AstraZeneca, one of four vaccines that was offered in Jamaica, has since withdrawn their vaccine from global markets. The pharmaceutical giant has admitted that its vaccine could cause very rare, but life-threatening, injuries. According to the Telegraph, the company was slapped with a class action lawsuit in the UK, which claimed that the vaccine had caused deaths and severe injuries and sought damages of up to £100m for about 50 victims.
While the Jamaican government fell woefully short of its target to vaccinate at least 65 percent of the population, no effort was spared in getting Jamaicans inoculated.
Those who took the vaccine were given preferential treatment, food, care packages and money in some cases. Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, went as far as to suggest that the unvaccinated should be frowned upon during a weekly COVID Conversations in January 2022.
Although the government did not implement mandatory vaccination, threats were made to do so eventually.
“We will respect people’s rights and the process before we do anything, but we can’t continue like this for much longer; our children must go back to school. They have suffered the most, and so there will come a time when we will have to insist upon persons taking the vaccines,” Prime Minister Andrew Holness threatened in October 2021 during a tour of a vaccination blitz sites in North Central Clarendon.
The Prime Minister said that it was unfair for people to want their right not to take the vaccine and move about freely, while those who are vaccinated endure hardships. He noted that societies with a similar constitutional basis as Jamaica, had recognised this unfairness and had implemented measures to differentiate between those who are vaccinated and those who are unvaccinated.
The Vaccine Mobilisation and Public Education Campaign was spearheaded by the Office of the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Health and Wellness, and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development. The Prime Minister used every opportunity to encourage Jamaicans to take the vaccines.
Those who took the vaccine were celebrated and were deemed to be more patriotic, as they were helping the country to return to normal life. The Prime Minister noted that a higher take-up of the vaccines would facilitate face-to-face resumption of classes and foster full reopening of the country.
Statistics of those who died from COVID-19, because of their failure to become vaccinated helped to drive fear in many. After dealing with the pandemic for some two years, Dr Tufton noted that some 2,694 Jamaicans had died leaving family and friends as a result of COVID-19. In addition, hospitals were overwhelmed. He said there were 2,221 deaths in 2021 and 323 in 2020.
“98.4 per cent of those who have died were unvaccinated, a clear indication of the value of vaccination to saving lives. We must follow the science even while we attempt to balance lives and livelihoods,” the minister appealed.
Speaking during the handing over of COVID-19 home test kits to tourism workers in January 2022, Dr Tufton shared his personal view that discrimination in favour of persons based on their COVID-19 vaccination status should be among some of the “bold decisions” that should be taken.
“After two years with the number of solutions that are available, whether it is vaccination or testing or just information, it justifies a level of continuity within our society, but also where we begin to discriminate in favour of persons who have been vaccinated, and I think those are some of the bold decisions that are going to be necessary in moving forward,” he argued.
The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) implemented a vaccine mandate for new recruits. The JCF temporarily denied applicants a chance to enlist if they voiced their reluctance to receive the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine before the commencement of training.
Members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) also claimed they were being victimised for refusing to get vaccinated. Soldiers speaking on condition of anonymity said despite public assurance from the JDF that it would respect the soldiers’ personal decision to not take the vaccine, officials had been using intimidatory tactics against those who refused to take the jab. A few months before this revelation, the JDF had said that soldiers who refused to take the vaccine would not be sanctioned, however a declaration from its members who do not wish to be vaccinated was required.
“This declaration will allow the Force to consider the duties and responsibilities of these individuals in an effort to limit their exposure and manage the safety of all members with a high risk of exposure. This is necessary as the JDF moves to protect its service members and others as they go about their duties,” the organisation said, before insisting that there would be no punitive or disciplinary action taken against any member who chooses not to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
Where verbal persuasion failed to get Jamaicans to take the vaccine, money and other incentives were offered. Senior citizens for example, who were deemed to be the most vulnerable, were given a one-time $10,000 grant once they showed proof of being fully vaccinated. A cash prize of $250,000 and 400 other enticing prizes were up for grabs for persons who got vaccinated over the Heroes Weekend in 2021.
Despite the mass campaign to get persons to take the vaccine, Jamaica was identified in a World Bank report in April 2023 as the country with the worst Covid-19 vaccination rate in the entire Latin American and Caribbean region. Only 27 percent of Jamaicans are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.