Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness and wife Juliet, Member of Parliament for East Rural St. Andrew, along with Opposition Leader Mark Golding received their first shots of the AstraZeneca vaccine on Monday, March 22.
The jabs were administered at the Good Samaritan Inn in Kingston.
Prime Minister Holness used the opportunity to push for the national identification system (NIDS) saying that the vaccination process would be much easier for Jamaicans under the program.
“If we had the NIDS, then all that would happen is, you come in, just show your card and all that data captured would then go into the vaccination database. It would take maybe two or three [or] four minutes off the process time,” Mr. Holness said.
“This means that you could have a throughput that is 20 per cent higher than what it is now,” he added.
NIDS will provide a comprehensive and secure structure to enable the collection and storage of identity information.
This secure, voluntary tool can also verify an individual’s identity, facilitate the electronic signing of documents and securely access a range of government services online.
Enrolment under the NIDS is being targeted for commencement in September 2021.
