The Ministry of Health and Social Services on Montserrat began the process of administering the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine on Montserrat today, Wednesday December 22, 2021.
Governor Andrew Pearce and Premier Joseph E. Farrell, Minister of Health and Social Services, Charles Kirnon, Minister of Communications & Works, Dr. Samuel Joseph, as well as other government officials and members of the Governor’s Office attended the St. Johns Clinic to receive their vaccines shortly after eight-thirty this morning.
The vaccination process was livestreamed by the Government Information Unit (GIU) on their YouTube page. Nurses Violet Brown and Alex Ackee administered the shots.
The Ministry of health is encouraging a booster shot for those persons who have already received two doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine. Children 12 years old and over are approved to take the Pfizer vaccine.
More than 500 individuals here have registered to get the Pfizer jabs.
Speaking after receiving his booster jab, Governor Pearce thanked the staff within the Ministry of Health for their hard work and dedication to keeping the residents of Montserrat safe and healthy.
He also warned residents that the Omicron COVID-19 variant presents a threat to Montserrat and says the variant is spreading rapidly in the United Kingdom and more than 70 other countries and appealed to residents here to take the booster jab and to those who have not taken the vaccine as yet.
“It has been nearly two years of fighting COVID here on the island, and Montserrat has done really well. We have had, I think, forty-five cases only, which is a very small number and by-and-large we have been able to maintain a life on the island that is relatively unscathed from COVID and that is thanks, particularly to the Ministry of Health, but also to all our frontline officials and to the island itself.
But Omicron, the new variant, is shifting the dial and changing the threat for us and the whole world. The rate of spread of the Omicron variant is incredible. We’re looking at 100,000 cases a day in the UK and it’s exploding now, in a similar way, in 70 or 80 other countries.
The way to fight this is, if you are already vaccinated, a booster makes an enormous difference. And if you are not vaccinated, I appreciate that everyone has their own perspectives on these issues and nobody wants to force people to believe in things that they don’t.
But I request that those of you who are unvaccinated to listen to the advice of the experts; The WHO, PAHO, UK/EU/US medical authorities and our own medical authorities here, who are urging people to take the booster and get vaccinated.”
Persons may register to receive either an Oxford AstraZeneca or Pfizer BioNTech vaccine by contacting the St. John’s Health Center at +1 664 491- 5218.
