SAVANNA-LA-MAR, Westmoreland — Fresh from successfully beating COVID-19, independent Member of Parliament George Wright on Thursday joined the Government’s pro-COVID-vaccination tour on its whistle stop at Manning’s School in Savanna-la-Mar.

Drawing on his own encounter with the deadly novel coronavirus, Wright, who was discharged from the Falmouth Field Hospital on Sunday, urged those in attendance not to delay in getting the jab.

“A lot of persons who I have known personally… would have said that they are not ready to get the vaccine. Trust me, when Mr COVID comes to your door, he is not going to say that he is not ready. He is ready for you,” said the MP who has vowed to get his first dose of the vaccine as soon as medically possible.

In an exclusive interview with the Jamaica Observer after his release from hospital, Wright explained that his initial plans to be vaccinated in May were derailed “because of the scenario that was taking place at the time”. Elected on a governing Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) ticket, he came under public pressure to resign after a video showing a man beating a woman with his hands and a stool went viral in April. Wright has never confirmed nor denied he is the man in the video and the police dropped the probe, citing poor video quality and a decision by Wright and his common-law wife Tannisha Singh not to move ahead with complaints they brought against each other around the time the video emerged.

Wright later resigned from the JLP and is now an independent MP.

He and Singh were both hospitalised last week after contracting the virus. Singh, who was treated at the Noel Holmes Hospital in Lucea, went home on Monday.

Wright’s urgings for people to get vaccinated were echoed by Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton when he spoke with the media at the Negril Health Centre vaccination site on Thursday. He urged sceptics who still question the seriousness of the pandemic to merely look at the havoc that it is wreaking.

“Look at the hospitals and see what is happening to patients there; the patients who are there and the ICU (intensive care unit) and oxygen that is required,” appealed Tufton.

“This is serious business, not a joke. Sometimes you have to learn the hard way. Too many of us have lost loved ones. We have seen the downtime from closures and so on. We have to get back to normal life and the vaccine represents the best approach,” the minister added.

Thursday’s tour was part of his final visit to vaccine centres in Hanover and Westmoreland and Tufton said he was pleased with the level of turnout.

MP for Westmoreland Western Morland Wilson was also happy with the turnout and he used the opportunity to encourage the public to get information on the vaccine from credible sources.