KINGSTON, Jamaica — Director of Family Health Services in the Ministry of Health and Wellness, Dr Melody Ennis, is reminding Jamaicans that the COVID-19 vaccine does not provide protection against other health conditions.

In an interview with JIS News, Dr Ennis explained that the vaccine will not stop someone who was already suffering a condition, such as heart or kidney disease, from dying from a heart attack or renal failure, respectively.            

She further explained that persons are going to continue dying from whatever conditions they are afflicted with, even after getting the vaccine, and that the determination will have to be made whether the death is attributable to the vaccine or to an underlying condition such as diabetes or obesity.                                                         

The Family Health Director said it is important for the necessary investigations to be done before drawing conclusions, and explained the process.                                        

“When vaccines are given, whatever happens to you after you take the vaccine is reported possibly as an adverse event. We call them Events Supposedly Attributed to the Vaccine or Immunisation (ESAVI), so if I take the vaccine today and go outside tomorrow and while crossing the road a car hits me, I am going to be recorded as a death after taking the vaccine,” she said.                                                                         

Dr Ennis pointed out that the investigations that take place when that death is reported will eventually show that it was not the vaccine, but, rather, the motor car that killed the person, “so when we see these deaths we have to wait on the investigations for us to be able to say is it a vaccine death or just an event that occurred after”.              

The Family Health Director contended that vaccines are “just another tool in our arm of defence, so we are not negating the fact that we have to eat right and we have to exercise; we have to sleep; we have to get our sunlight – that is encouraged”.

“Never forget it’s the holistic care of all of us, so those things are absolutely essential,” she said, adding that persons need to double down on taking care of themselves.