MONTEGO BAY, St James — Security Minister Horace Chang has defended Government’s decision to have members of the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) among the first batch of front line workers to be inoculated with the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

The Opposition People’s National Party (PNP) expressed disagreement with the Government’s approach to vaccination that will see members of the JDF prioritised for vaccination ahead of elderly people over the next few weeks.

But Dr Chang, who was Monday morning addressing members of the media in Montego Bay, St James after being inoculated, said soldiers will have an integral role in the logistics operations of the vaccination roll-out, hence they also have to be guarded against the disease.

Soldiers, said Dr Chang, are critical to the logistics operation as they are the ones who assist health care workers in setting up the vaccination centres. “So we have to have them (soldiers) fit,” Dr Chang said.

He added: “The police will be critical as we expand [in dealing with] public order, maintaining public interface out there, and working with public health officers. So it’s a whole of government, whole of nation approach of dealing with this vaccine programme. The country has to appreciate that [it is] a major programme for the nation. We need everybody on board and the army is critical to all of this.”

The security minister revealed that a significant number of members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force have been already affected by the respiratory illness.

“We have had a significant impact [by the virus] to the operations of the security forces. The police — the last time I checked — had well over 300 active cases. They are a part of the population… the police work within the communities and once it gets to the community spread police officers are going to be affected.

“The army has had a few but not as extensive at this point, but bear in mind that the army is on the road supporting the police. We need them (soldiers) to be available to assist in managing the process as we go national, in terms of not only public order; they assist significantly in the logistics.”

The security minister, who is also deputy prime minister, argued that “vaccinating the nation in a short time is a major logistics operation and the army, of course, is one of the best institutions at this kind of thing”.

He said: “They JDF has been giving the public health officers their full support. But the public health officers are familiar with doing vaccine programmes and they have every confidence they will handle it very well as we proceed.”