Shirley vax task force lays out mandate
Published:Friday | September 10, 2021 | 12:09 AM
A seven-month timeline has been given to the Gordon Shirley-led COVID-19 task force to ramp up the country’s vaccination rate as the new COVID-19 variant, Mu, threatens an already buckling health sector.
Just over 600,000 Jamaicans have received one or more doses of the COVID-19 vaccine as the Government hastens to meet its target of inoculating 1.9 million people - or herd immunity of 65 per cent - by March.
The task force is expected to increase and streamline both the public- and private sector-managed aspects of the national vaccination programme by making the process more accessible, efficient, and seamless.
The group is expected to optimise the logistical and operational aspects of the programme, beginning with the appointment system through to vaccination, observation, and post-vaccination administration.
The team — which includes Permanent Secretary Dunstan Bryan, Chief Medical Officer Dr Jacquiline Bisasor-McKenzie, Dr Sheila Campbell Forrester, Professor Lloyd Waller, Colonel Markland Lloyd, Peter Melhado, and Alok Jain — is expected to also oversee vaccination site logistics as well as the communication mandate.
They are to also recruit persons outside of the health sector to assist with the “scaling up” of the vaccination programme and to encourage and facilitate the participation of important stakeholders and sectoral groups such as those in tourism, business process outsourcing, and the construction sector, Shirley said.
“We are charged with developing the authentication of the system, which will be linked with the Ministry of Health and Wellness’ database to provide an unambiguous way of identifying persons who have been vaccinated,” said Shirley.
The task force is not expected to assist with the sourcing of vaccines, which Shirley described as unfortunate.
He said, also, that the work has already begun, pointing out that the team has met with the head of the Irish vaccination programme. More than 80 per cent of that population has been fully vaccinated.
“They are a country bigger than us, but not much bigger, and they have some interesting lessons,” he said.