OCHO RIOS, St Ann — Ocho Rios’s high number of COVID-19 cases has earned it a spot on the list of areas where vaccine ambassadors will be heavily relied upon. Health officials in this parish are banking on these influencers to help convince the vaccine hesitant that it is time to get the jab.

While the number of cases in St Ann have been on the decline, communities in Ocho Rios have the greatest number of active cases in the parish. this, according to medical officer of health in St Ann Dr Tamika Henry, is a result of individuals refusing the vaccine.

“We are paying very close attention in terms of doing our various community interventions. We have been looking at the different areas that most cases are coming from, and 80 per cent of these persons are not vaccinated. Those who get COVID and are hospitalised are not fully vaccinated or only partially vaccinated,” she told the parish’s monthly municipal corporation meeting last Thursday.

Dr Henry explained that the ambassadors will play an integral role in the vaccination drive. They are expected to be in place by next month.

“They will be selected by community leaders, such as the councillors, who will inform us about persons who they know have some amount of influence in their areas to assist us in driving up the numbers,” Dr Henry stated.

The parish now has a total of 5,600 positive COVID-19 cases, largely made up of the working population. Health education promotion is, however, still being pursued as a part of the parish’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign and the numbers have fallen in the past month.

“We have noted that between the month of September and October there has been a 69.3 per cent decline in COVID numbers,” said Dr Henry. “Over 66,000 persons have received at least one dose of vaccine. We have administered 23,052 first doses of AstraZeneca and 19,024 second doses.”

She said that 8,983 second doses and 10,849 first doses of Pfizer vaccines have been administered, while 4,479 doses of Johnson & Johnson have been administered.

Stressing that there is still a lot of work to be done as it relates to take-up of the vaccine, Dr Henry urged councillors to do their part in assisting the health department with the fight against COVID-19.

“I want to ask the councillors… to go out and talk to the persons about the importance of getting vaccinated and maintaining the protocols,” she said. “Because many persons are vaccinated they have thrown caution to the wind; but they can still get COVID.”

There is now a recovery rate of over 88 per cent in the parish.

— Akera Davis