THE Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) is once again urging Jamaicans to get COVID-19 booster shots, notwithstanding the lifting of restriction measures and perceptions in the population about natural immunity.

The call also comes on the verge of the potential dumping of 150,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccines which will expire at the end of May. Of those, 30,000 are Pfizer doses and the remainder, AstraZeneca shots which expire on April 30.

“COVID-19 vaccines continue to offer the best protection against severe illness, hospitalisation, and death from the SARS CoV2 virus. The ministry continues to encourage persons to get vaccinated and for persons who have received the Johnson and Johnson vaccine two or more months ago, and the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine six or more months ago, to come in for their booster shot. This will ensure that their immune system remains strong in the fight against COVID,” head of Family Health Services and the COVID-19 National Vaccination Programme, Dr Melody Ennis stressed. She was responding to the question of whether health authorities are still encouraging booster shots for those who have received the primary series, with Jamaicans seemingly now enjoying some level of immunity from the novel coronavirus.

Further, as international health experts keep a close eye on the new XE variant, which has been diagnosed in over 1,000 people in Britain so far, Dr Ennis stressed that the highly transmissible Omicron remains the dominant variant of the virus among the Jamaican population. The WHO has stressed that the XE is 10 per cent more transmissible than the original Omicron, not 10 times more, as has been reported.

But even as the impassioned pleas are made, the country’s vaccination level is still significantly below the WHO’s benchmark for herd immunity.On Wednesday the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) pointed out that Jamaica is among four Caribbean countries where less than 30 per cent of the population have received primary doses of the COVID-19 vaccine. The others are Haiti, St Lucia, and St Vincent and the Grenadines.Speaking at PAHO’s weekly press briefing, director, Dr Carissa F Etienne urged countries in the Caribbean and Latin American region to take advantage of vaccination week from April 23 to April 30, and to intensify efforts to reach at least 70 per cent of their population with COVID-19 vaccines.

The call comes amidst indications that vaccination rates have dropped or plateaued in some areas across the region — despite there being enough supply now to meet demand for all countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region.