Juliet Holness Lashes Out at Ministry of Health Over Vaccination Program
Key Points(5)
- [embed]https://youtu.be/QjDCVmnAkXc[/embed] Jamaican member of Parliament for St.
- Andrew East Rural, Juliet Holness has blamed the Ministry of Health and Wellness for contributing to the low take-up of COVID-19 vaccines being experienced in the country.
- Amid criticisms from members of the opposition, People’s National Party, Holness has also expressed her disapproval with the national vaccination program.
- Juliet, who is also the wife of Prime Minister Andrew Holness, used a recent parliament session to lash out at the ministry for not sticking to its promise of prioritizing children to get the Pfizer vaccine.
- She also expressed outrage that the ministry recently dumped over 50,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, which she says could have been given to vulnerable adults.
https://youtu.be/QjDCVmnAkXc
Jamaican member of Parliament for St. Andrew East Rural, Juliet Holness has blamed the Ministry of Health and Wellness for contributing to the low take-up of COVID-19 vaccines being experienced in the country.
Amid criticisms from members of the opposition, People’s National Party, Holness has also expressed her disapproval with the national vaccination program.
Juliet, who is also the wife of Prime Minister Andrew Holness, used a recent parliament session to lash out at the ministry for not sticking to its promise of prioritizing children to get the Pfizer vaccine.
She also expressed outrage that the ministry recently dumped over 50,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, which she says could have been given to vulnerable adults.
"If after over a year of most of our children being at home, and we're hearing that they're falling behind, I can't understand how we got to a point of throwing away vaccines when we could have given it to those vulnerable adults and saved the Pfizer for children," she said.
Jamaica received its first shipment of Pfizer vaccine from the United States in August. At that time, the Ministry of Health said that children would be the priority to get the shot to facilitate the reopening of face-to-face classes. But soon after, the ministry made the vaccine available to adults. Juliet also pointed out that at some vaccine sites, only Pfizer was being given to adults.
Defending the decision to do so was the Ministry of Health's Permanent Secretary, Dunstan Bryan, who explained that although the ministry has assured that all the vaccines are safe, Jamaicans still seem to have a preference for one vaccine because of its widescale administration in the diaspora.
"I'm sure you understand that the preference for Pfizer is not as a result of us in the Ministry of Health promoting that," he said.
Holness responded, saying that she disagreed with Bryan, to which he stated, "I don't agree that the Ministry hasn't promoted the efficacy of all the vaccines. What we are not taking into account is that the population receives information on vaccines from multiple sources. Many Jamaicans are told which vaccine to take from the relatives abroad," he explained.
The Pfizer vaccine has been suspended in Jamaica since September 10th after running out of doses. The Ministry of Health has stated that no adult, outside of those who are due a second dose, will be getting a Pfizer shot when the next shipment arrives from the United States.
The Permanent Secretary revealed that of the 208,260 doses of Pfizer that the country received in August, 81,000 of that number was given to children. Some 34,193 children are fully vaccinated, while another 12,614 children have currently gotten one shot.
