Wayne and Roy deliver unified message on vaccine
(CNS): Premier Wayne Panton and Leader of the Opposition Roy McTaggart met to record a conversation Friday, as they delivered a clear and unified message that the only way to keep the Cayman Islands safe was for everyone that can be to get fully vaccinated. Putting aside the recent political differences over national vaccination rate goals and the date for reopening, the two men both urged residents to get their shots. Following the recent politicization of the issue and Panton’s plea to the opposition to stand with the government as it steers Cayman toward the opening phase, the political rivals ended the week on the same page, urging everyone to get vaccinated.
“To keep our country and our people safe, we are putting aside any and all political differences and differences in opinion,” Panton said. “This effort goes far beyond politics. Our unity on this message should show everyone its importance.”
McTaggart added, “We are completely united in the goal of reopening our islands safely, and we are agreed that the only way we can achieve this is by getting our people vaccinated.”
According to the latest figures from Chief Medical Officer Dr John Lee, while Cayman has now reached a first dose vaccination rate of 70%, just 66% of the country has had both shots, which is 14% short of the government’s target rate of 80%. Over the last 24 hours just 30 people got their first shot and 45 their second, in one of the slowest weeks for vaccine take-up since the national programme began. More than 7,000 more people will need to get both their shots between now and the beginning of September if the government is to reach its goal.
Another four travellers’ test came back positive Friday, bringing the total of positive cases this week alone to 14. There are currently eleven active cases of the virus among those in quarantine and isolation.
In their joint message on Friday, both the premier and opposition leader particularly urged front-line workers in both the public and private sectors to get vaccinated as a matter of urgency due to the high-risk nature of their jobs.
Cayman is scheduled to open its borders in less than seven weeks, even as the highly contagious Delta variant is now dominant globally, and it takes at least five weeks from the first dose before immunity builds up effectively in people vaccinated against the coronavirus.
While the Delta strain is much more transmissible than previous mutations of SARS-CoV-2 and there have been breakthrough infections, the vaccinations are proving extremely effective at preventing people from getting seriously ill, even if they get COVID-19, the disease caused bythe virus. But with cases on the rise in the US, where more than 99% of recent deaths were among the unvaccinated, CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky has warned of a “pandemic of the unvaccinated”.
Commenting on the confirmed arrival of the Delta variant in the Cayman Island, Governor Martyn Roper said in his own message that this “should give pause for reflection” for those yet to get their shots.
He said it was a “dangerous development” but the UK’s commitment to provide Cayman with vaccines “remains firm”, including the boosters which some doctors believe may be required for the elderly and more vulnerable. In the meantime, he urged people to get their first dose as soon as possible.
“In the UK, as of today, 1 in 1,000 infections results in death. Last winter in the UK that figure was 1 in 60. The difference now is the vaccine as almost 70% of UK adults have been vaccinated. In the UK, data shows that vaccines reduce your chance of severe illness and death by 92-96%,” Roper said.
“If you haven’t had the vaccine yet, the emergence of Delta variant should give pause for reflection. Opening the border will never be risk free. Getting as many jabs in arms is our best hope of protecting everyone in our community, including our elderly and vulnerable and our young people, who even if they get COVID mildly, can suffer from highly debilitating long COVID,” the governor added.
See Panton and McTaggart in vaccination conversation on CIGTV below:
See the vaccine schedule on the HSA website here.
For more information on vaccines contact the HSA Communications team at
communications@hsa.kySee here for more information on securely verifiable vaccination records.
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Category: Health, Medical Health
It’s good to see the Hon. Premier and Hon. Leader of the Opposition uniting for a noble purpose. At the end of the day, we’re all Caymanians and God’s people.
Cayman will be close to the rest of the world until further notice. Please continue to send your money here but authorized personnel only allowed on island. Plan your lives accordingly. Government sponsored fat people must be and will be protected at all cost.
Oh dear oh dear oh dear. The Governor still can’t get his facts right.
He says “In the UK, as of today, 1 in 1,000 infections results in death….”
No Mr. Roper it is currently, on a rolling 7 day average, 0.6 in every 100,000, deaths within 28 days of a positive test.
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/
Slightly different don’t you think?
You have misunderstood the data and what he said. 445 deaths within 28 days of testing positive => 445 * 100,000 / 70,000,000 = 0.6 deaths per 100,000 population. If what you say is what Mr Roper said he’s talking about the conditional probability and you can see from the data you posted that is roughly right; 252k infections in last 7 days and 445 deaths; or very roughly 1 death per 600 positives (I appreciate there’s a lag but it’s the right order of magnitude).
It’s different because you’re talking about completely different things. The governor is correct. In the UK currently 1 in 1000 infections results in death; any anti-vaxers that can read should note that number has fallen from 1 in 60 in November/December thanks to widespread vaccination.
It has fallen primarily due to much better treatment after much experience.
Nope. Certainly between the first wave and last winter wave that was true as dexamethasone and tocilizumab were found to increase survival but this year the main difference has obviously been the vaccine.
Really? Which new treatments have reduced covid mortality by 94% in the last 6 months? Why make stuff up?
Good job Wayne and Roy. Let’s see a lot more of this going forward. Might make for some unhappy “invasive species” but so be it. Might just lead to resurgence of the “local species”.
3.54 You are as deluded as they are, you can “urge” until kingdom come, but it won’t make the slightest difference.
Here’s an interview with the inventor of mRNA vaccine tech and Bret Weistein.
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CNS stop being complicit in repressing important information.
CNS: Stop being complicit in spreading disinformation. Fact Check-COVID-19 vaccines are not ‘cytotoxic’. For those who really want to watch the video, it’s included in the fact check.
Or see Politifact
CNS thankyou for shutting these numpties down. You’d have thought by now that people would be a bit more wary about how credible their, usually easily debunked, claims are. Appeal to authority; check. Confirmation bias; check. Dunning Kruger effect; check. It’s a great big soup of logical fallacies and cognitive biases. Mmmm
Perhaps @CNS could look into this XXXXX
CNS: Social media BS that has been circulating since last year. If you have found a credible source that makes that claim, feel free to post. If you saw it on Facebook or WhatsApp, it’s garbage. I wish people would use that as a general rule.
Thank you CNS!!!!!!
Well isn’t that nice. You can tell them both that until a firm border opening date has been set, my family, friends and I will not be participating in their little Kum Ba Yah singsong.