Former Prime Ministers P.J. Patterson, 85, and Bruce Golding, 73, took the COVID-19 jab this morning as Jamaica’s vaccination programme against the novel coronavirus got underway this morning.
Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton said that the former leaders were being observed for any reaction to the shots which were given at the Good Samaritan Inn in downtown Kingston this morning.
The location is being used as a demonstration spot where key influencers are brought to get their vaccines in the hope it will motivate members of the general population to take the shot. Lorna Golding, the wife of Bruce Golding, and Denise Eldimire Shearer, Professor of Public Health and Ageing at the University of the West Indies, also turned up at the vaccination centre.
Earlier, Marcia Thomas-Yetman, a public health nurse, became the first person in Jamaica to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
“I am happy to be the first public health person,” said Thomas-Yetman after getting her shot at a vaccination centre set up at the Good Samaritan Inn in downtown Kingston.
She described getting the shot as “A pleasant experience” and urged fellow Jamaicans to do likewise.
“I am presently not having any pain or any discomfort, nor any side effects or anything,”
she said while encouraging Jamaicans to take the shot in order to help fight the COVID-19 virus.
“I am encouraging everyone to have your vaccine when it is available to you so that we can get back to life as normal as soon as possible,” Thomas-Yetman said.
“I am encouraging you all to continue to wear your masks, sanitise and to do your social distancing, avoid crowds and keep safe while we try to protect the rest of the population from COVID-19,” she added.
