Public health hopes for weekend vaccine surge

| 07/05/2021 | 73 Comments
Cayman News Service
Airport Vaccine Clinic on Saturday

(CNS): Public health officials are hoping for a surge of people seeking the COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination drive on Saturday at the airport clinic, with the government members not yet vaccinated will be getting their shots. The goal is to attract the many adults here who have not yet had their first shot with the enticement of a prize-draw, free refreshments and a chance to mingle with the new ministers. As of Friday evening 37,470, or 58% of the estimated population, have received at least one vaccine dose, with 50% having completed the course.

The push to attract more people to be vaccinated comes as the clock ticks on the shelf life of the remaining 7,000 doses of vaccine that Cayman received from the UK. Anyone who wishes to take advantage of the remaining free Pfizer vaccines must get their first dose before 9 June. The PACT Government event at the Owen Roberts airport clinic starts at 9am.

Meanwhile, there were no new cases of the virus among travellers in the Friday report, and there are now just nine active cases of coronavirus among the 793 people in quarantine, none of whom are showing symptoms. This is the lowest number of active cases since November last year.

The revised hours for the COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic at Owen Roberts International Airport on Saturday, 8 May, are 9am – 12pm & 1:30 – 5pm.

Vaccination clinic reminders:

  • Pfizer COVID vaccine is available to ALL persons 16 years and over (regardless of surname).
  • Bring your completed consent form for Dose 1. Visit hsa.ky to download the form here
  • Persons who have received their first dose are reminded to get their second dose 21 days later or no longer than 12 weeks after the first dose.
  • When receiving your 2nd dose, you MUST also bring along your vaccination card reflecting your 1st dose.
  • Do not laminate your vaccination card at any time.(If you have already done so, please bring your vaccination card to the ORIA Vaccination Clinic along with your photo ID.)
  • Park in the long-term parking lot.
  • Do not bring children, when possible.
  • No pets allowed at the vaccination clinic.
  • Facemasks required.
  • Persons 60 years and older will be given priority.

The public is reminded to adhere to the published schedule and plan to get the vaccine throughout the day, to limit congestion at the vaccination clinic.

See the vaccine schedule here.

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Category: Health, Medical Health

Comments (73)

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  1. Anonymous says:

    What appears inconclusive is what the “number” is. I have seen 70%, 75% and 80%. Sometimes this is the eligible population, sometimes it is the entire population. It would be better to set a date and those that choose to be vaccinated will be and those that don’t won’t. As the vaccine has an expitry of June 30, and there is no scheduled new deliveries, this should be the date of reopening. It would be nice to hear consistent information from the government

  2. Anonymous says:

    I was very wary about taking the vaccine because of the speed with which it was developed. However, put very basically, I understand that the ‘foundation’ of the vaccine had already been developed (SARS) and it was a matter of ‘tweaking’ it to work for the COVID strain.

    In any event, I am now fully vaccinated and haven’t grown 2 heads, so I would encourage anyone who is able to take the vaccine, do your research, and make an informed decision on the facts.

  3. Anonymous says:

    It is unfortunate but I think the Government will have to at some point re-open the borders. We will then have community cases of the virus for the first time. This will result in many hospitalizations and deaths.

    Once this happens on a scale large enough for those against the vaccine to see their loved ones dying or surviving and suffering greatly from side effects that the virus causes, I think we will see a greater uptake of the vaccine.

    We are living in a bubble and we have not felt the effects of what other countries around us are going through. We listen to Fox News and the conspiracy theorists and we let them sway us into believing some of the most outlandish things. The latest I heard today is that the vaccine will cause you to contract AIDS..Just ridiculous on all fronts.

    Billions of people around the world have now taken the vaccine. If all the conspiracy theorists are true, there won’t be many people left in the world very soon.

    • Anonymous says:

      10:52, you THINK they “will have to at some point re-open the borders”. Think? You better know. If we don’t want to shrivel up and disappear, the borders have to open.

    • Anonymous says:

      The issue is our supply will expire at the end of the month. There is no shipment set for the future. Waiting could lead to people getting sick. If you don’t want to get sick, get the jab. If you want to risk it, be my guest.

      In the meantime, there should be a drop dead date of June 30 to reopen. The medicine will be expired on that date.

  4. Anonymous says:

    So according to CMR 7 PACT members got vaccinated on Saturday, and only Bernie,Mac and Wayne were present who had been previously vaccinated. Conspicuously absent from the proceedings was Ju Ju. Has she been vaccinated or does not attending avoid getting asked about awkward question?

  5. Anonymous says:

    Society could do more to help here. Bars, restaurants, fosters, kirks for example saying they will be open to vaccinated people only when the airports open would help

    • Anonymous says:

      Never going to happen. The $$ trumps everything. After all it is the only reason to let tourists in.

  6. Anonymous says:

    If you are receiving the tourism stipend it should be a requirement to show your vaccination record, or a doctors note for why you cannot be vaccinated, in order to continue to receive the stipend. Period.

  7. Anonymous says:

    It astonishes me how so many can assume that everyone who have not taken the vaccine are being hateful, anti-vaccine, selfish, ignorant etc. Unfortunately there are the forgotten ones in our society those who cannot, because of medical reasons. Is the government paying attention to them? They are being verbally attacked and treated as a pariah for a situation not of their choosing. What about those extremely allergic ones who have been pushed and shamed into taking and had horrible side effects that almost killed them? Where is the government’s advice to those people about safety measures they need to take? So let us not forget those who cannot take the vaccine and stop the attacks and shame game. Some people just can not take it.

    • Anonymous says:

      I do not think anyone is criticizing people who cannot get vaccinated for medical reasons. This is actually why everyone who is able should get vaccinated. That way those who are unable will be more protected through herd immunity. And that is why people who refuse to get vaccinated based on stupidity or misinformation appear so selfish – they are putting those that are unable to be vaccinated more at risk.

    • BeaumontZodecloun says:

      I can’t imagine why anyone would downvote your statement. It is apt. Everyone who has had the vaccination has had to fill out a form which outlined those who should not get the vaccine, and other possible side effects.

      We sometimes forget that people with certain medical conditions live with those variables and have been doing so for several years. These are folk for which the vaccine might represent a more serious threat than Covid-19.

      I think we should try to ramp down the hatred and the judgmental speech, the implied threats and the insults. People from all walks of life have made decisions which are appropriate for their condition.

      My Mother thinks that people hate her, based upon what she reads on CNS. She has always helped people all her life, and been glad for the ability to do so. Some of you owe her an apology.

    • Anonymous says:

      All 26 of them are fine. It’s the remaining eedjits we have issue with.

      • Anonymous says:

        Exactly!! The number of the unvaccinated that are truly unable/ineligible for the vaccine is a SMALL percentage. The vast majority are others that are going by what their granny’s sister’s neighbor’s friend’s cousin heard.

    • Anonymous says:

      That’s really not the case. Anyone with a brain knows full well that some people can’t necessarily have a vaccine. That said, we’re talking a tiny percentage.

    • Anonymous says:

      Ask your doctor if you are concerned you will be allergic to any of the ingredients in the vaccine. The fact is, the vaccine will not harm 99.9999% of people who take it. Not getting vaccinated when you are able to is a selfish position to take, possibly ignorant as well. I cant say that it’s hateful or anti-vaccine. I think it’s due to lack of correct information or too much believing misinformation.

    • ld says:

      It should no longer astonish you that there are so many hateful people here who are only concerned with themselves and show only disrespect to all others. I’m saved and your screwed is the culture here.

  8. Anonymous says:

    Looks like a good turn out on Saturday well done! Keep it going! As the Premier said yesterday” I wish we have the reserves to continue the protections, continue the closed borders, continue to support our people until we get to a point where there is absolutely no risk, but that’s unfortunately a bit of a fantasy.”

  9. Anonymous says:

    Why all the Government officials did NOT get the Vaccine before? Now that they are the Government they getting it and asking everyone to get it ? FISHY don’t your all think ?

  10. Anonymous says:

    Ridiculous that the government are offering a prize draw for vaccines that any other country’s people would be desperate to have. It’s e simple – open up by the end of the year and make it clear if you are not vaccinated and refused a vaccine that is available, not government financial support, be charged a government health payment in addition to current insurance, mask and social distancing at all times, not allowed to work in tourist or people facing jobs like taxis, buses, shops, restaurants etc.

  11. Anonymous says:

    How can they announce an opening date when they’re trying to meet the target of at least 70 to 80 percent of the population to be vaccinated. The longer everyone else wait around on the opening dates before going and get the shot will just keep delaying the date. That’s why they are imploring those who haven’t to come out and do so.
    What should happen after this batch of vaccines shelf life expire. 1.Anyone needing a vaccine should be charged for it. 2. If you’re not vaccinated and they are forced to open up before meeting the target. Those persons should have to wear masks in public places, to protect themselves. 3. Traveling, they would be subjected to PCR testing and quarantining for 14days. While those who are vaccinated and by show of proof can move freely with limited restrictions. Maybe then some of the anti Vax people will go get the shot. Of course those that can’t get the shot because of medical reasons would have to do so either way. The more people vaccinated will create herd immunity and slow or burn the virus out. We all know the vaccine is not not a cure or stops the spread but you have a 95percent chance of living from covid and most of the new variants with the pfizer shot. People tend to forget that growing up and before all this social media was created. We were told we had to go get this and that vaccine in schools or wherever such as measles, mumps , polio etc. When no one knew about this person or that person who may have died from it in earlier days. So its a not a normal thing for adults to be getting vaccines. It becomes a scare and questions about the what ifs are raised when taking new medicines which is normal. However technology and the science has evolved so much on creating new medicines over the year’s. That is why this can be achieved in a short time. However this vaccine has been in the making a long time when Sars was discovered. This is an emergency approved vaccine. Which will soon have a formal FDA approval. Please if you can, get the shot. Let’s open up and not have to worry too much on getting sick from covid.

    • Anonymous says:

      No thank you! I’ll take my chances with the virus. I will NOT take the vaccine. I’m also not going to wear a mask if I’m healthy…if I get COVID, based on my risk profile and physical health, I think I’ll be fine.
      I appreciate your concern but not everyone is afraid and paranoid of this virus. Open the borders.

      • Anonymous says:

        Glad you are thinking about the vulnerable that you may infect – NOT.

      • Anonymous says:

        I am vaccinated (high risk family members) but I agree that we all need to assess our own risk of Covid/vaccine. I also agree it’s past time to open the borders.

        • Anonymous says:

          Alas, we don’t control the timetable on originating tourism markets getting their burning houses in order. We must wait until they catch up. Right now we can and should be looking ahead to be early-adopters of travel verification/blockchain apps/credentials for those fully-vaccinated nationalities with select approved vaccines, and reduce and/or eliminate travel quarantine times. This will be the new normal going forward. Roper has said he is working with UK on this, which is another victory-in-the-making for Cayman, and his very competent and productive period of Governorship. We could get used to this.

      • Anonymous says:

        My guess you are a Trump supporter, right?

        The same guy that refused to wear a mask or social distance causing himself to contract the virus then used the best “experimental” drugs the USA could provide to save his life while telling others to do the exact opposite or to inject bleach instead. The same guy that before he left the White House, he and his wife got their vaccinations done. A modern day Jim Jones.

        Take your chances with Covid but I hope for your sake that you are right about your health. My friend who was 29 years old, a personal trainer and bodybuilder, was hospitalized with the virus on a Wednesday last September in Tampa. I talked to him on Friday night via Facetime and he was literally gasping for air. Saturday morning, he was so bad they put him on a ventilator. He died that afternoon..a man the picture of health, no pre-existing conditions died from a virus that people continue to call fake and harmless. Until someone close to you contracts and dies from it, you will never understand the true potential and lethalness of this terrible virus.

        Good luck my friend..The virus does not discriminate between the healthy and unhealthy.

      • Anonymous says:

        Don’t go running to hospital crying.

  12. Anonymous says:

    Need to go door to door to get those who are undecided.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Tick tick tick… expiry clock on the vaccine
    Just announce a 2nd pension fund withdrawal from those grossly underperforming overcharging pensions and the crowds will come to get the vaccine. It’s that easy. No stimulus cheques like every other country then do another pension fund withdrawal.

    • Anonymous says:

      And what do you intend to live on when you retire? Looks like most bought new cars judging by the numbers of new ones on the roads. Granted a few will be self managing their pension pot wisely, but many/most will buy expensive items (cars/TVs/stereos) that will be worthless in 10 years.

  14. RO says:

    I’m really grateful to everyone here who has had the vaccine so far. Lots of people are understandably anxious about it.

    We’re living through the first global pandemic in a century. Humans have endured plagues before – regularly though history – but we have lost immediate knowledge about how to live though them – we don’t have the stories from our grandparents. The last pandemic was in 1918 – and although we have incredible scientific knowledge now as a species, this is a *new* disease.

    Doctors , nurses, scientists have had to throw everything – all their time, energy, brainpower, compassion – absolutely everything at this, since it started in 2019 – to try to keep people safe.

    How can we not honour this immense work? The exhaustion, sacrifice – those faces bruised by wired masks, those hearts broken by holding the hands of people who died, gasping, unable to to be with their families. The trauma of those on the front lines is shattering. And the pain of those bereaved and injured by this virus is horrific.

    Unlike other countries, reeling from the virus and the new mutations, such as India and Brazil, where the suffering, deaths and collapse of the healthcare system is causing daily unimaginable suffering, where bodies pile up for burial and cremation – here in Cayman we can hug and gather and breathe easy. We dance. We mingle.

    We are so, so blessed.

    Because we followed the scientific medical guidance, stayed home. We suffered a really tough lockdown to prevent the healthcare system being overwhelmed, and so we snuffed out the virus flare-ups, week by week, together, apart. Businesses collapsed, savings and pensions raided and future hopes and dreams were jeopardised. Jobs lost, people suffering – everything changed.

    And now here we are.

    We are in a bubble, and how to break it? How to let in travellers, tourists, much-missed family, friends? The trouble is, that in the 21st century we are used to thinking carefully of our own personal responsibility and choice – but now that doesn’t work when a contagion convulses the entire planet. The choices we make and consequences we take are no longer just for ourselves. They are for the whole world.

    Because the choice to not vaccinate – it doesn’t just affect one person. The virus cannot spread without hosts – and not every host feels sick. Not every host knows they are spreading it – but every host offers a new chance to that virus not only to spread, but to mutate. The virus spread around the world not because everyone felt sick with it but because many didn’t – but they still passed it on. And on and on and on and on and on. And the virus began to mutate. It’s what viruses do.

    Mutated versions of the virus won’t stop until we close the net and remove the opportunities for it to change. The variants that are more virulent, for example the variants that affect children and babies harder, faster, that spread more easily, that are vaccine-resistant – they are cooked up in unvaccinated hosts. You might be ok, unvaccinated, you might feel nothing. You still offer a host body for the virus to occupy and mutate in. And spread from. You might pass it to 2 friends. They feel ok but they each pass it to 2 others….

    2-4-8-16-32-64-128-256- 512-1024 -2048 -4096…

    On a small island, you can see how this can quickly overwhelm the healthcare system. Each person who is unvaccinated can pass it on…and on, and if we open the borders, we open to the whole world.

    We can’t, yet, vaccinate everyone. Children can’t be vaccinated. Not all grown ups can be either. All we can do is shut this down as far and as fast as we can. If you can join the fight and hold the line and close the net, and help to strangle the chances of this virus using your body to infect and incubate in, then I consider you a hero.

    The Pfizer vaccine that we have here is really good, it not only stops you getting sick but prevents transmission. It shuts the virus down.

    How does the vaccine work? Here is a great explanation.
    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=WOvvyqJ-vwo

    If you aren’t sure – if you are still worried, that is totally understandable. mRNA vaccines have been worked on for years but tailoring them for this virus at this scale is a new global initiative.

    Please talk to your doctor, your friends and family who have already had the vaccination.
    Please, if you can – roll up your sleeve.
    Thank you. Thank you, thank you.

    (Data from Israel re our vaccine https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/may/05/two-pfizer-covid-vaccine-doses-give-over-95-protection-shows-israel-study)

    • Anonymous says:

      Wow. Best explanation ever. Thank you.

    • Anonymous says:

      @10:51pm…..Thank you!

      “The Pfizer vaccine that we have here is really good, it not only stops you getting sick but prevents transmission. It shuts the virus down.”

      This part of your post is SO important! People are still latched on the original intent of vaccine which was only to reduce severity and are not focusing on the bonus of the drastic reduction in possibility of catching/spreading it. Scientific evidence is out there but many are ignoring.

    • Anonymous says:

      Great, great comment!

  15. Anonymous says:

    Your decision to take the vaccine should be solely based on the merits of the vaccine. It should have nothing to do with prizes, social pressure, employment, travel etc…None of those things qualify the vaccine on its merits.

    • Anonymous says:

      In the USA, some employers are offering a $100 inducement cash bonus to holdout employees who get vaccinated, with incredible uptake. Interesting to see that most of the vociferous opposition convictions dissolve for a Benjamin. Cayman employers: how much are your employees worth to you? Why not try it? Tourism employers have a vested interest in getting us all over the line.

  16. Anonymous says:

    One suggestion would be to provide free transportation to the vaccination clinic. There might be people that want to get the vaccine but don’t have transportation to get there.

    • Anonymous says:

      Government are paying taxi mafia, make them do some work at least. Or even a boat charter company is getting paid, boat them in too.

  17. Anonymous says:

    It actually has the reverse effect on me, I don’t want a politicized vaccine, I just want to go when there is no line and in and out, so I will stay away.

  18. Anonymous says:

    It is too bad that they are unable or unwilling to have staggered lunch times. They are deliberately closing for an hour and a half when people who work Saturday want to get vaccinated.

  19. Anonymous says:

    2 weeks after you get your double dose of shots would be a good time.

  20. Anonymous says:

    If I understand correctly, anti-vaxers on a guaranteed government salary are deciding when it’s safe to open the border?..

    What could possibly go wrong?…..

    • Anonymous says:

      EXACTLY!!! Anyone who is on the government stipend and is refusing to be vaccinated needs to be cut off immediately!

      • Anonymous says:

        I am on a stipend, and I agree 100%. I considered it my civic duty, (as well as a huge privilege) to get the vaccine at the earliest opportunity.

    • Anonymous says:

      Handing out currency that costs nothing to produce is hardly pay

  21. Roll up your d says:

    If it was as simple as ONLY those who choose not to be vaccinated run the risk of getting COVID and suffering the effects, which include long term, disabling sickness or death, then it would be possible to say “Right, we are opening the borders on July 1st, stay unvaccinated at your own risk”.

    But it’s not that simple.

    Every unvaccinated person is a potential transmitter of the virus and a potential incubator of a new variant. A variant that might end up being particularly deadly to children, or babies, or pregnant women. A variant that might be vaccine resistant. A variant that might be super contagious and far more virulent with a hugger mortality and injury rate.

    Every vaccinated person is one less host for the virus to evolve in. The smaller the number of unvaccinated people, the fewer chances for the virus to jump around and mutate.

    When the borders re-open, there will be people who can’t take the vaccine, and there will be children too young to be vaccinated. All of us who can, who are able to take it, who are humble enough to listen to overwhelming medical advice to take it, and be cognisant of the fact that over a billion humans have taken it, safely, should step up and do our duty out of compassion for others.

    India, Brazil and other countries are dealing with unimaginable horror and death and the collapse of their healthcare systems. Here on these islands, people are hungry and poor because the borders are closed. We have this free, world class vaccine and we have the chance to do our part to stop this virus mutating and injuring and killing others.

    I understand feeling uncomfortable about it but…Please, please, please, please…

    It’s not just about you and your feelings, it’s about stepping up and playing your part to save the world.

    Roll up your sleeve and be kind.
    Thank you.

    • Anonymous says:

      You can make the same argument about any virus. It’s possible for a cold virus to mutate into something more deadly…It’s not a great argument to live in perpetual fear.

      • Anonymous says:

        Precisely the reason why there was a new Flu jab every year. For mutations! COVID will be the same. 80 – 90% can be vaccinated and there will still be mutations, causing the need for yearly vaccines and boosters. If the vaccine protects you, why are people so worried about the unvaccinated?

    • Irritated says:

      The vaccinated can pass the virus too.

      • Anonymous says:

        Well, theoretically at a sub-detection microbial level, and perhaps more likely with some of the inferior mass-market vaccines. But have there been any documented cases of this happening with a Pfizer vaccinee? Search and you’ll find few, if any, statistically-inconsequential fractional percentage examples.

        CDC Data Suggests Vaccinated Don’t Carry, Can’t Spread Virus… https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7013e3.htm

        “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do Sir?”

    • Anonymous says:

      Thank you.

  22. Anonymous says:

    Announce the opening date or I won’t be there.

    • BeaumontZodecloun says:

      Good Lord, give it a rest. Nobody cares what you think or your ultimatums. Research the process on vetted medical websites, make an informed choice and stick with it!

      Be responsible for yourself, as adults do.

    • Anonymous says:

      Get over yourself, don’t go then!

    • Anonymous says:

      Need people vaccinated for an opening date

      Need an opening date for people to be vaccinated

      follow your own mentality.

    • Anonymous says:

      Idiots like you are not helping in setting a date because without the required % vaccinated the govt can’t move forward. Chicken and egg comes to mind…

      • Anonymous says:

        You say they can’t open the borders, but they can, they can open them tomorrow, but they won’t. The people in the government have taken this country hostage based on psuedo science and fear.

    • Anonymous says:

      Selfish …

    • Anonymous says:

      Yeah after June when they announce the opening date then they should charge.

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