Dear Editor,

Many Jamaicans breathed a sigh of relief when the prime minister announced a relaxation of the COVID-19 restrictions in terms of curfews and holding of events and funerals. There is, however, an underlying question that needs to be addressed: What will happen if and when there is an increase in novel coronavirus infections, hospitalisations and deaths?

There needs to be an accompanying medical action plan for the opening of the economy. Instead of the continued musical chairs/stool drama in the Parliament each Tuesday, we need a comprehensive plan to address any resulting surge in novel coronavirus infections.

The information coming from the minister of health is not comforting. Dr Christopher Tufton recently said in Parliament that when he heard others recommending Ivermectin he asked that The University of the West Indies (UWI) conduct clinical studies to assess the drug’s effectiveness in fighting the pandemic. Why would the minister ask for this? Was the same asked of the current vaccine we are using in Jamaica? I don’t recall any detailed explanation being provided by the Ministry of Health when people expressed concerns on taking the experimental AstraZeneca vaccine due to it not being used in the United States and reports of deaths and injuries in parts of Europe.

The minister of health also pointed out that the manufacturer of Ivermectin, Merck, had come forward to say that there was no benefit to be gained from using this drug. This seemed like a convincing argument from the minister until a basic Internet search revealed that Merck would not obtain any financial benefits from Ivermectin because of the age and cheapness of the drug. Merck, instead, has been working on a new drug to fight COVID-19 which it hopes to be a medical and financial success.

The prominent local doctors who are pushing for Ivermectin to be a part of the recovery tool box for COVID-19 may not be able to do clinical studies on their own now, but they can point to the success in parts of Mexico and India, whose local governments have fearlessly gone against the strange dictates of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The opening of Jamaica’s economy is a good thing; however, an immediate health plan should be done to guard against increased hospitalisations and deaths from COVID-19.

Marsha Thomas

marshburns@hotmail.com