Private sector vax missing targets, but undeterred

T he Private Sector Vaccine Initiative, PSVI, has administered more than 33,000 COVID-19 vaccinations in three months, but those numbers represent just over a half the level that corporate Jamaica had hoped to achieve.

In fact, the low take-up of the vaccines among wage and salary earners has seen the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica starting to urge the Government to facilitate more and easier access to testing centres for the coronavirus, amid emerging policy in various companies that those who refuse to be inoculated will be required to do regular tests to prove they are free of the virus.

As of November 8, the PSVI had administered a total of 33,237 vaccines, covering every parish in Jamaica and all business sectors, or approximately 11,000 workers per month.

“We’re set up to do about 20,000 jabs per month, so are operating at 50 per cent of capacity,” Chair of the PSVI Logistics and Operations Committee, Peter Melhado, told the Financial Gleaner this week.

PSVI uses private doctors and nurses to administer the programme, under which it executed vaccinations on 124 occasions, up to the first week of this month.

Melhado says a public health nurse has custody of the vaccines, as required by the Ministry of Health & Wellness, MOHW.

Although the pervasive anti-vax sentiment has derailed its target, PSVI isn’t ready to throw in the towel, yet.

“We’re still working with companies through our ‘VaxCeptance Sensitisation’ sessions to help answer questions their team members might have,” said Melhado.

“This is part of how we have been helping to improve the take-up,” he said.

Jamaica wants to inoculate about 60-65 per cent of the population of some 2.8 million people. Currently, just about 20 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated.

So far, the total COVID-19 doses administered amounted to 1,018,669 up to Wednesday, November 10, of which 558,350 were first doses, 403,357 had received two doses, and 56,962 related to the one-jab Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Although the PSVI is far off its target, there are some bright spots in the data. For example, CEO of Jamaican Teas Limited John Mahfood says his company is 84 per cent vaccinated; while at Seprod Limited, a large manufacturing and distribution group, the rate is 53 per cent, said CEO Richard Pandohie, which is substantially improved from the 34 per cent rate he had reported just two months ago to shareholders at their annual general meeting in September, but below the company’s own target.

“That’s still not where we want to be. The initial target was 75 per cent, but we’re continuing the process of educating, incentivising, giving staff vacation days, and even one-off vacation,” Pandohie said.

“In addition, we’re bringing in external medical people to speak, and answer the personal questions.”

Seprod has found that there is higher participation in the vaccine programme among its older workers, 85 per cent of whom have taken the jab, Pandohie said.

The morbid truth of the pandemic is that when it hits close to home, some people are more inclined to adhere to safety and health protocols. Mahfood noted that vaccination rates shot up to the current 84 per cent after Jamaican Teas lost its long-serving chief accountant in late September.

Mahfood, who is also president of the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association, fears business activity could be hobbled up to two more years, saying the Jamaican Government seems to have no clear plan of action to achieve the stated objective of getting about four million jabs in people’s arms by March 2022.

The prospect of a dark Christmas and a new year of painful lockdowns are weighing on him.

“If they continue at this rate, we will have a low rate of vaccinations going even into 2023. We will therefore continue to suffer lockdowns, with only part of the economy running,” Mahfood said.

Under the PSVI, companies that are members of the initiative can vaccinate their workers on-site their premises or participate in the weekly events at the Girl Guides Association of Jamaica headquarters in Kingston.

Companies are also encouraged to participate in community vaccination day programmes through a partnership with the American Friends of Jamaica, under which the PSVI recently delivered vaccinations in four Kingston communities – Maverley, Jones Town, Fletcher’s Land and Trench Town – Melhado said.

“As a result, over 800 residents from those communities have taken the steps to protect themselves from the virus,” he added.

The PSVI has also started to support schools that want to get their students vaccinated with the Pfizer vaccine, starting with Campion College and St Andrew High School for Girls.

“We remain open to working with other schools that may need assistance in this way, as we support the drive to get the children back to face-to-face learning safely and as quickly as possible,” Melhado said.

neville.graham@gleanerjm.com