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by pltm
(PLTM) - Minister for Health and Social Development Hon Carvin Malone has said that the British Virgin Islands now need to have an additional 10 per cent of its population inoculated now that the Delta variant is likely circulating in the territory.
He informed during the VIP Let’s Talk Programme last night that the total first doses was 15,722 and 10,881 second doses and, going off of the assumption that the BVI has a population of 30,000, a total of 21,000 persons representing 70 per cent needed to be vaccinated in the past. “With this Delta variant of which we speak, the Epidemiologist, the Chief Medical Officer have all said we need to get up to 80 per cent, 24,000,” he said.
He added, “We will be able to do this when we introduce the number of youngsters, 17 to 14. If they are able to go to St. Thomas, for instance, and get the Moderna that has been approved for young adults, we will be able to get that from those persons who are convinced that the Pfizer and the Moderna (vaccines) are the ones that they must get administered. We will be able to get that from those persons who have already gone overseas, and they have been administered, but they are not in our system.”
The Minister said they would be providing the mechanism by which these persons can be registered in the BVI system, “So we have a proper reflection of the total doses administered from wherever the source may be.”
In the meantime, Premier and Minister for Finance Hon. Andrew Fahie commended persons for taking advantage of the vaccination drive.
“We want to commend you, keep choosing life, keep moving towards the vaccine. We know that there are those against, but we have no time to argue. If you know that you can build your immune system and keep it built, I am willing to listen and to hear. I love the natural medicine, but sometimes when we have urgent things like these, the conventional medicine is the one that will come forward,” he remarked.
