Elderly turned away from vaccination site as COVID jabs only for students, parents
Published:Saturday | August 21, 2021 | 1:14 PM
Rasbert Turner/Gleaner Writer
Elderly persons who turned out at a vaccination site on Saturday morning were left disappointed after being turned away as the four-day blitz targets only schoolchildren and their parents or guardians.
Doses of the Pfizer vaccine are being administered.
Girletha Kelly, who said she turned up at the Dinthill Technical High School in St Catherine around 6 a.m., was among seniors who were denied the shot.
"Can you help me, please?" Kelly, who is blind, said.
"I am here from 6 o'clock dis mawnin and now dem turn mi back, but mi blind and a ongle young people dem a care fah, but mi wah get di vaccination."
The 83-year-old, who was accompanied by her daughter, said she was unsure when she would be able to return.
Linford Harris, 73, was also crushed after he, too, was refused the jab.
"Dem turn mi back, sir," Harris told The Gleaner.
He said he travelled 10 miles from Bowers Hall to get his shot.
"Now dem said that dem can't vaccinate me unless I was accompanied by a child," said Harris, who insisted that arrangements ought to be made for seniors like himself.
Dr Tashele McLean said that the day has progressed smoothly.
"We are here today doing a blitz for the grade 10 to 13. These would translate to the 14 to 18-year-old group. We also vaccinate guardians and parents of this group if required," McLean said.
“The elderly will be dealt with at another time," she continued.
The elderly and persons with co-morbidities are at gravest risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19.
Today's vaccination is prioritising children 12 and over who have underlying illnesses as well as students aged 15 and older.
The vaccination of students is viewed as key to the resumption of face-to-face classes, which have been aborted in most schools since March 2020.
Jamaica trails almost all other CARICOM countries in per capita COVID inoculation, with 139,000 or only five per cent of the 2.8 million population being fully vaccinated.
As at August 20, Jamaica recorded 61,282 coronavirus infections and 1,371 deaths.
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