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.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Category: Health, Medical Health
Ireland has introduced measures to restrict access to bars and restaurants to those least likely to spread Covid. It is time that Cayman follows the sensible examples being set by countries like Ireland France and Italy. It is irrational for us to wait for a re-opening disaster when it is obvious what need to be done. From BBC –
“Irish pubs and restaurants have resumed indoor service after the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.
Many pubs, especially those that do not serve food, have been closed since March 2020.
As the industry reopens, customers have been reminded of the new guidelines.
Customers, including those from Northern Ireland, must have official proof they have been fully vaccinated or have recovered from Covid-19 within the last 180 days.
For the overwhelming majority of people in the Republic, they will prove eligibility through the EU’s Digital Covid Cert with its QR codes.
Every adult must also bring along official identification such as a driving licence with a photo.”
The Wall Street Journal reported last evening that Florida is having serious Covid problems –
“Florida is recording more Covid-19 cases than any other U.S. state, as hospitalizations in some areas increase at the fastest rate since the start of the pandemic.
The state accounts for one in five new infections in the U.S. and logged 73,181 cases over the past week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Florida had 341 cases per 100,000 people over the past week, second only to Louisiana. The weekly total of new cases reported by Florida jumped more than fourfold between July 1 and July 22, reaching its highest point since mid-January.
Deaths in Florida totaled 319 over the past week, the most among states, with a rate of 1.5 per 100,000 people, the fourth-highest, according to the CDC.”
If people in Florida, Arkansas, Alabama and Missouri don’t start getting vaccinated at a faster rate we are going to be back in the same hole as last year in a couple of months as the virus will mutate.
I have had it with our Florida Governor and his inability to tell the truth about what is going on in Florida.
We have a major crisis in Florida now and Governor DeSantis is playing games with disinformation to keep in Trump’s corner while we are in deep trouble health wise.
We are going into the COVID abyss again because of his total stupidity. This is not the time to attack doctors and public health officials to simply score political brownie points.
The NY Times is reporting hospitalizations in Florida are climbing rapidly and are now over 5,000 per day
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/us/florida-covid-cases.html
France is moving in the right direction thanks to carrots as well as sticks – Note – the carrot and stick analogy is derived from the universal experience in relation to the motivation of jackasses.
“In the early hours of Monday, France’s parliament passed a law that requires a “health pass” showing proof of vaccination or a negative PCR test in order to enter restaurants, bars and for travel on long-distance trains and planes, starting in August.
“We will extend the health pass as much as possible to push as many of you as possible to go get vaccinated,” French President Emmanel Macron explained in mid-July, when he announced the legislation. He also said vaccination would be required for health workers from September 15 and hinted at the possibility of making the shot mandatory for everyone if the epidemic worsened.”
One point of view
Chair of global public health at the University of Edinburgh and global health expert Prof Devi Sridhar has stated:
“The current approach in England seems to be to let teenagers get on with it and see what happens once they’re infected. The result will be an uncontrolled epidemic among younger age groups. Some British scientists aren’t alarmed by this, pointing to other diseases such as seasonal flu, which cause more hospitalisations among children than Covid-19. By contrast, paediatricians in the US argue that exposing children to a new virus with potentially long-term complications is a major risk that should be avoided. Covid-19 was among the top causes of child death in the US in 2020.”
SNP advisor and Guardian contributor… hey I don’t know maybe she’s right but England could have it’s last case of Covid today and the SNP and Guardian would find fault with it.
The BBC is reporting this morning that the White House has cited the delta variant as a reason to keep in place a travel ban from the UK and Schengen countries. So much for the open the borders and get on with it argument.
Interesting note in the Guardian regarding Covid and younger people –
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/25/seriously-ill-young-people-in-current-covid-admissions-expert-warns
It’s almost too late to ‘open’ up for this winter season, but we could at least:
add more flights, allow anyone to travel on them who want to HOWEVER bring back the PCR test on landing and advise people that if they test positive, its 14 day quarantine.
I think its wise to sit back and watch how any community spread plays out here in the coming months as more and more ‘essential travelers!’ return…with the waning of the effectiveness of the vaccines being reported with increasing frequency now, its probably worth remaining cautious
I know its not perfect, but why go from 0 – 100 overnight? So CIREBA can get some commissions on missed sales to foreigners?
My wild guess is that late 2019 early 2020 spike in flu cases, up to 200/day were actually COVID cases.
My other guess is that many have natural immunity to COVID, meaning they were either born with it, or had been exposed to the virus during life time.
“…stream of studies that have documented SARS-CoV-2 reactive T cells in people without exposure to the virus are raising questions about just how new the pandemic virus really is, with many implications.” https://www.bmj.com/content/370/bmj.m3563
..and who are you? What qualifications do you have? Are you a doctor/scientist? Please provide reliable sources for these supposed “studies”. Please note: Facebook/Twitter/Instagram/Fox News/etc. ate not considered “reliable sources”.
Its the British Medical Journal for heavens sake, not some whackjob website. Been an authoritative source on medical developments since 1840 – just a tad before Facebook came on the scene.
I have a Facebook account and a group of people who think the same way I do and that is all I need to know what is truth and what is not. – NB Sarcasm
History won’t be kind to us.
The latest victim’s story that managed to get through “facts finders”: Georgia-Rose Sega,34. Of course her case is extremely rare. As thousands others extremely rare cases that are deleted as soon as they appear. And sudden deaths among young people…of course all are from the natural causes.
I personally know 2 unrelated people, both women in their 40s, who developed such severe “side effects” that both were hospitalized for more than a months and still are on disability leave- one with severe anaphylaxis, another with severe damage of her heart.
Several people in my extended family did have COVID last year. One, 19yo, had it twice. All recovered, some quickly-surprisingly the eldest, some had lingering symptoms, mostly fatigue and loss of sense of smell.
Compared to the “extremely” rare, aka life altering side effects from the covid jabs, having actual COVID wasn’t much different than having flu. Except the weird fact that the older people were (in my family) the easier they got over COVID. Scientist should look into this.
As a side note, who is checking the “facts finders”?
History is old news.
4 million people worldwide might disagree with you about the consequences of catching Covid – oh wait, they cant, because they are DEAD.
Already resident work permit holders should have the same right of resident Caymanian to accept or reject vaccination. The newly coming in work permit applicants can be required of vaccination certificate. We should trust others if we want to be trusted.As some one commented if vaccination is requirement to enter or work in public places automatically unvaccinated r restricted.it is their choice just like some one cant say asking for driving licence is violation of human rights. We should not ask every one to have driving licence but without driving licence we wouldnt be alloed to drive. If allowed road accidents and deaths. If he dies no problem but causes others injured and die. Same is here of vaccination. So Govt should take proper advice in balancing human rights and public protection.
exactly… No Vaccine, no work permit issued/renewed.
Let’s cut the crap. No vaccine no work permit issued / renewed.
We gotta get tough or we will never get out of this situation.
Just do it.
Frankly the SELFISH people who are refusing to be vaccinated are causing us to continually be locked in our country. They need to get over themselves and realise that this is for the good of humanity. I know it is hard for most people in Cayman to think of others but we need you to set your egos aside and do the right thing. I have been shocked by the people, that I thought were reasonable and smart, who refuse to get vaccinated. I am done. Open the borders and those that are unvaccinated can get sick and die I don’t care anymore they are too stupid to live anyway.
Sweet! Would you dare to repeat your comment straight to a face of a person with an active cancer?
Yes I would.
Those are the people who should be getting vaccinated. Most at risk, I would guess. Low immune.
@8.21 If you can’t understand the comments please don’t comment on them
You sound like a truly horrible person.
You are obviously from a culture of people who have no ability to care about anyone but yourself. Talk about selfish and self absorbed. Please continue to hide from the world for our sake.
Pot, meet kettle.
Lol. The irony in this statement 😂
Yeah, the last sentence! Please say it in the face of all people who are already sick, suffering and fighting for their lives.
Step 1 — allow residents to freely travel. Allow Cayman Airways and other carriers to put on flights to meet resident demand. For now, willing to quarantine on return for the five days.
Hopefully you were meaning to type – ‘allow fully vaccinated’ residents to travel’ Allowing unvaccinated people to travel and return with the virus would be a disaster.
United on pay raise and vaccine promotion……time to unite on OPENING THE DAMN BORDERS!
Are you paying attention to what is going on in Florida?
Yes, people are living their lives as they choose to do so.
Yeah 7:51, that is why the hospitals in Florida are overflowing again and my brother, the doctor in Miami is working 14 hour days trying to save the unvaccinated.
My brother certainly is not living his life the way he chooses.
What is happening in FL? Curious.
Hmm… let see…David Beckam was watching football in Miami
The people have spoken, and the vaccination rate has stalled – we will be lucky if we get 70% double doses. We can’t argue with facts, so let’s open the borders to vaccinated travellers, and the vaccinated residents can mix and mingle and provide services. The unvaccinated residents will have to stay home or suffer the consequences…which is their undeniable right!
@2:16 pm
Well, if the numbers are accurate, they’ll tell you what is happening, variants wise, in FL. Why FL? All roads lead to Miami, figuratively speaking. Who cares what is happening in India, Israel or Australia or Brazil… you have to get through Miami first.
What I like about FL Governor, he is against spreading panic and oppression of FL residents and its visitors. DeSantis treats his citizens like ADULTS and let’s you decide on what to do.
Compare to
Premier Panton who said “ he felt he had to take “a clear and firm stance against the wave of misinformation, selfish behavior and apathy that is placing us all at risk”.
or
Roy McTaggart has recently pressed the government to fully open the borders on 9 September to FORCE people to get the vaccine or risk getting the virus.
or Marc Langevin: “If civil duty doesn’t work, mandate vaccinations’ “ Aren’t he afraid that he will have hard time recruiting new staff? Cayman hotels might endup with severe shortage of workforce.
Do they treat Cayman residents as adults? Do they have wisdom and leadership qualities? Do they care about already severely sick people who can’t take the jabs? Lives matter, every single one! But not to the Cayman political leaders and other “bosses”.
For the past month Governor DeSantis no longer allows the public to see the stats on new COVID cases. How can one make a decision when one does not have all the facts?
Basically the Florida doctors have now declared a verbal war on DeSantis for not being truthful. Just watch the local Miami stations to get a feel for what is going on.
DeSantis treats adults as ignorant FOOLS by being totally dishonest.
Not true at all. Just assumptions. Love DeSantis! The true leader with common sense and vision!
Nope. He’s a liar and should probably focus on infrastructure in his state.
Would you go on a cruise sailing out of Florida, knowing that thanks to DeSantis cruise lines cannot ask whether passengers have been vaccinated.
Now that’s leadership right?
Ready for those same cruise ships to return to our shores?
If you’re keen to know as a young adult, I find more and more these “adults” that I would have been taught to respect and listen to, are simply just ignorant. They choose to stop learning, become close minded, and more selfish.
In my opinion they’re just a bunch of grown up children that need pampering. Maybe these facebook and youtube “researchers” and scholars who find all the “secrets” and solutions from wacky clickbate conspipz news, sites need to be babied and told what’s best for the community. It’s simple math… unvaccinated = higher risk, higher spread, higher chance for virus mutations, higher death rate. Want to do something simple that helps you, your family, the country and the world? Lower your risk of spreading the virus. Guess what, no microchip, no beasts, no marks, just a more prepared immune system. It’s fantastic.
No one denies there are risks involved, but the chances are far, far less. so just get over yourselves.
“go to school, study, get good grades, get a job” that’s what all you boomers teach. So when someone spends decades studying on matters, recommends the best course of action all of a sudden you go full stupid and deny everything in existence..
/rant
Hah? What are taking about…without name calling and moralization please
I can relate and also understand what they’re talking about with or without the seemingly frustrated remarks. Can’t you?
Not really. Boomers went out and made the vaccine. The least vaccinated are the under 40’s.
Ahh yes, I suppose it may not be just boomers.
I apologize, primarily was aiming at they’re the ones telling us how to “be successful and specialize, study and the whole works” then turn around and think they know more than the professors who dedicate their lives to it. It may not be so age specific on the deniers.
You can tell your immaturity by the name calling. It is inappropriate and unnecessary. It makes you should childish. It even makes the adults on here sound childish as well.
Name calling is a form of bullying that has never worked. Just harken back to the afterschool specials on TV that were meant to teach you how to speak to people.
This goes for all of those that feel that name calling will force people to change their minds.
Have any of you even bothered to ASK those that has not been vaccinated exactly WHY? Nope, just keep on bullying and maybe that will fix it.
Calling people out is bullying.. ah okay. If you’re offended make take a look in the mirror and have a little introspective time. It’s targeted at all these people who making bogus claims. If you’re not one of them, then it shouldn’t effect you.
If you legitimately cannot take a vaccine that’s fair, but if your a fud spreader anti-vaxxer Facebook and whatsapp expert… then yes, I think you’re stupid.
Re: Mandatory vaccinations proposal. Recommended reading for Marc Langevin:
Miami Herald. “COVID comeback: How Miami hotels beat out the rest of the country.”
“Nobody anticipated the recovery we’ve seen,” “… leisure travelers have been driving their comeback, while conventions and individual business travelers are still largely absent.“
“Usually June and July are slow months,” Kukreja said, “but we are doing unbelievable.”
Pent-up demand and cabin fever are driving most people to Miami,
“We’re selling the same amount of rooms at a dramatically higher room rate.”.. said Rolando Aedo, chief operating officer of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.miamiherald.com/news/business/tourism-cruises/article252903853.html
Just get vaccinated!! Civil duty! Selfish! Anti-vaxxers! May be they can’t?
Cancer. Estimated new cases 2021: 1,898,160 (US), 18.1M (worldwide). By 2040, the number of new cancer cases per year is expected to rise to 29.5 million and the number of cancer-related deaths to 16.4 million.
❇️For now, guidance and data are lacking on this because the COVID-19 vaccines have not been studied in cancer patients. Treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation can make your immune system less likely to respond to vaccines, so it may be better to wait, if possible, until your treatment is completed and your immune system recovers.
Autoimmune condition
❇️ According to the National Institutes of Health, up to 23.5 million Americans (more than seven percent of the population) suffer from an autoimmune disease—and the prevalence is rising. No data are currently available on the safety of COVID-19 vaccines for people with autoimmune conditions
❇️ Information about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines for people who have weakened immune systems is not yet available
❇️ If you have a condition or are taking medications that weaken your immune system, you may NOT be fully protected even if you are fully vaccinated.
Just think about it, 4M died from Covid worldwide, approx 10M die from cancer each year.
Cancer statistics in Cayman remain unknown, but it appears ( from obituaries) that people are dying mostly from cancer. Neither current, nor successive governments ever addressed cancer problem in the Cayman Islands.
Apples to Oranges…
❇️ Cancer isn’t highly contagious between humans nor does it spread like covid…
You missed the point: people with cancers can’t get vaccinated. Was it factored into 80% goal?
You’re also wrong about cancer and viruses. It has been established long time ago that EBV virus can cause many types of cancers:
EBV infection increases a person’s risk of getting nasopharyngeal cancer (cancer of the area in the back of the nose) and certain types of fast-growing lymphomas such as Burkitt lymphoma. It may also be linked to Hodgkin lymphoma and some cases of stomach cancer. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/infectious-agents/infections-that-can-lead-to-cancer/viruses.html#:~:text=EBV%20infection%20increases%20a%20person's,some%20cases%20of%20stomach%20cancer.
So treating reactivated EBV virus is a very good idea.
Cancer is not a virus..idiot..
did you actually read the comment? Because it is not about contagability(new word) of cancer.
Maybe it’s all the fried food?
WHEN is Cabinet going to follow through on the mandatory vaccine for work permit holders, a sizeable part of our population? More and more new permits are being issued in construction. Get this done!
You’ll endup without construction workers, without hospitality workers, auto mechanics, plumbers, ac technicians, even grocery stores clerks.
Be careful what you wish for.
I have booked a technician to visit my house to do some necessary repairs. I have requested that the firm sends somebody who has been doubly vaccinated, otherwise I would deny the technician entry to my house. Wayne and Roy, your efforts are laudable, but please exhort your supporters and followers to take action similar to what I have done. Thank you.
LOL. You will end up doing repairs yourself.
My elderly mother has also asked that anyone sent to clean her house be vaccinated. Maybe it’s what we all should be doing.
well, you are her son/daughter, step in if you have such restrictions for the repair man.
She is very independent and makes decisions for herself. No need to step in.
I hope they laugh you into next year and send no one to help your pompous ass
I am still waiting for someone to call my business and request a vaccinated person. You will get whoever is available. I will not be disrupting my workforce for a paranoid customer. They may kindly take their business somewhere else. Especially because most of my clients are not individuals but rather developers.
That’s fine and I don’t know your business or clientele but I think going forward, as the border opens, companies offering the assurance of fully vaccinated staff may be a significant selling feature that businesses might well consider.
Original poster here. Just heard from the service provider that their technician is fully vaccinated. Did I read correctly that A.L. Thompsons are making it a condition of employment that employees must be fully vaccinated? Good people, do not fool with the Delta Varient and GET VACCINATED.
Let’s be clear on something. With the Pfizer less than 40% effective at stopping infection in vaccinated there will be no herd immunity even at 80% vaccination rate. And that 30 something percent will keep on going down every month as the virus further tries to escape the vaccine induced spike antibodies of the herd.
Add to that epidemiological forecasting models that predict peak infections with the next delta wave in the US are expected right around September/October and you get a reopening timeframe that seems most inappropriate.
Finally, are people in Cayman really prepared to start social distancing again and wearing masks come around the reopening? Because that’s something that would have to happen if you let a bunch of infected into a population with very little immunity. Without strict social distancing and mask wearing all you’ll get will be closed schools, intermittent hard lockdowns etc. etc.
Look at places like New Zealand or Hong Kong as examples of good COVID containment policies not the incomps in the US or UK.
Why don’t we close forever?
Why stop there, why not control everyone’s caloric and sugar intake? Ban alcohol, force everyone to be vegans and ban cars and anything that could possibly harm humans?
Or maybe, you should live under your rock and let the rest of us move on to having real life.
Nobody is talking about closing forever. Hyperbole doesn’t make for a good argument and certainly not for good policy.
If you’re not happy with the Cayman zero covid policy maybe you should look at decamping up north to the land of the free. You’d be particularly unimpeded in your freedoms in a place like Florida, which boasts a fabulous pandemic fighting track record…
Seriously though, good things will happen just in a few months, among others a slew of anti viral treatments like the Pfizer protease 3cl inhibitor which might make the entire pandemic moot. Patience pays off.
The zero covid policy made sense when there wasn’t a vaccine. Even CIG knows that they cannot remain closed indefinitely. We are just postponing the inevitable now.
It may very well be the answer as the vaccines are loosing their efficacy but may prevent serious illness and hospitalizations.
But hey no money to made by people boosting their own immune system naturally.
CNS: Wrong. Millions to be made in “natural” medicines.
Oh my, so uninformed.
Can Panton tell us what their plan is when Cayman gets community spread, which is inevitable. Can CNS please ask them? Are we looking at another lockdown? If so, will this lockdown go on for the foreseeable future? How will they respond. People need to know this and the Government need to be completely transparent.
Looks good on the surface. But the bottom line is they are not going to convince enough people to be vaccinated by the deadline to move forward with the reopening plan.
I predict that come January when the census results are shared we will find our population is under 71K and we will have met the 80% goal months before but we didn’t know because we were going on a made-up population number.
Look around, sir/madam. Bumper to bumper traffic with no tourists. We’re over 71K. I would put money on it.
I think the truth is we have much more people on island then the government lets on. Ask yourself why they would want to keep that under wraps…..
We are in such odd times. They’ll be writing about us in history books. I wonder what they’ll say.
Very good things
Lol
This will be looked back on as a colossal embarrassment for world leadership on so many levels.
Replying to CNS on comment @ 2:17 pm.
Your notation is correct but also correct is the point that I chose to highlight, that is the diminished effectiveness of the vaccine, according to this study. This is worth noting and should be of concern especially for individuals who have taken the vaccine. Such people should be aware of the study and continue to be cautious even though vaccinated.
10:56 am, good post.
Take a look at the re-opening plan scheduled to start on August 9, 2021. If you are a vaccinated traveler you will only need to quarantine for 5 days and NO GPS wristband is required. IMO, this will be the start of community transmission as not all travelers will adhere to the quarantine requirement therefore at some point the virus will be passed on by some of the vaccinated. The unvaccinated will be blameless as they will still be required to follow the protocols in place now.
CIG must rethink the no GPS wristband policy above, my concern is that we will quickly go back into lockdown once we have even a small amount of community spread.
CNS noted in post 11:03 am, the Forbes article recently published relating to the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine against the Delta variant. Noted below is a direct quote from the article.
“A full course of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was just 39% effective at preventing infections and 41% effective at preventing symptomatic infections caused by the Delta Covid-19 variant, according to Israel’s health ministry, down from early estimates of 64% two weeks ago”.
Let’s hope that the effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine against the Delta variant does not drop any further.
CNS: Note from the same article about the finding by the Israeli government – “The vaccine still provides very high levels of protection against hospitalization (92%) and severe illness (91%) caused by the Delta variant, the ministry said.”
Also of note – “The Israel findings also conflict with several other studies assessing the vaccine’s performance against the Delta variant, which indicated only slightly diminished degrees of protection against infection and mild illness (between 80% and 90%), including peer reviewed research from Public Health England published Wednesday.”
No they should not rethink. You have had since January to get vaccinated, your fault if you didn’t get it and a no gps traveler infects you. You only hav yourself to blame. The facts are we will have Covid in cayman, no one ever said vaccines stop you catching it, we just know as a fact with the vaccine you have an above 90% chance of not going to hospital or dying. Your post makes no sense.
I think there will be high compliance with quarantine without wristbands. We all remember the infamous Skyler Mack, and how the courts threw her in the slammer.
I’m double vaxxed and can easily do 5 days at home. Keeps me away from my annoying co-workers as well!
You find any lame excuse to not get vaccinated. I feel sorry for you as COVID will not. The risk you place on those who can’t be vaccinated because of medical conditions are who I feel sorry for.
Community transmission becomes almost irrelevant once we reach vaccinations targets. The unvaccinated will definitely not be blameless, as they would make up 99 percent of the people requiring hospitalization which is what we are trying to avoid.. (Excluding children of course)
I think Wayne is realizing that he was better off working with the Ppm Alliance over the bunch that he is currently in bed with. I’m sure dealing with Chris, Kenneth, Sabrina, Jay, Bernie, Mac and Julie can’t be an easy job
It’s a crying shame that an honest experienced accountant like Roy can’t be minister of finance.
Hope Saunders has enough sense to ask for his help .
Exactly!
Not too late for him to realign his cabinet though.
That would be great, dump Saunders and have someone who knows what he is doing.
Inevitable.
Roy had his chance to join the PACT group and he didn’t..He is about the only one of those PPM that have an ounce of decency but he is still controlled by Alden. Trust me there is not a chance in hell that Alden would have done this with Wayne.
Well, they did try to work with Wayne but he insisted on being Premier so he waffled off to throw together his Government of inexperience and live his best life!
More waffle that will achieve nothing.
If you believe 80% is achievable you are a fool or a liar.
There is no re-opening plan. The real true plan is to reopen when the rest of the world does.
It already is!
The rest of the world is open and has been for a long time!!
If to reach the 80% we have to issue the ultimatum to work permit holders that they have to have had the vaccine by the end of august or the permit will not be renewed,we can’t revoke right away but we can give them notice ,I also wonder what % of government staff have had the vaccine . This not few months is very critical for cayman don’t fool ourselves that not opening won’t impact us for years . But we also can’t afford another lockdown
12:54 When the rest of the world does????? They all beeeeeeeen open!!!! Just us in this holding pattern.
80% is not reachable. Stop pretending it is.
Maybe we can pull the census forward to get the information on the actual population.
There is a message in the flatlining rate of vaccination.
the two people who came in from Miami had their vaccine months ago yet contracted the delta variant. so what difference does it make now. the vaccine isn’t working against the delta variant
CNS: There is now conflicting data about the effectiveness of the vaccine stopping you from catching the Delta variant but everyone is agreed that it is highly effective in stopping you from getting very ill or dying. So “isn’t working” is just complete nonsense. Forbes – Pfizer Shot Just 39% Effective Against Delta Infection, But Largely Prevents Severe Illness, Israel Study Suggests
Recommend you read the whole article but.. “The vaccine still provides very high levels of protection against hospitalization (92%) and severe illness (91%) caused by the Delta variant, the ministry said.”
Thank you CNS for the edit!
So now your telling people they must get vaccinated because you are going to let vaccinated but still infectious people out into the herd while requiring unvaccinated returnees to quarantine for 14 days so they don’t infect anyone or get infected by anyone else who are vaccinated. As a person who can not take the vaccine(read the warning label) I thank you. At least you can’t blame the next outbreak on the unvaccinated. I hope only vaccinated people catch it. (because theoretically they have an even better chance than 1 in 1000 of not coming down with problems. I will continue to take responsibility for myself and wear a mask and social distance.
Have you spoken with your doctor? There are very few people that are actually unable to be vaccinated. I would seek medical advice.
Covid is not going away. We cannot stay closed forever and need to learn to live with it.
provide data for your “very few people that are actually unable to be vaccinated” or at least share with is how did you arrive to such a conclusion.
https://yalehealth.yale.edu/yale-covid-19-vaccine-program/information-special-populations-and-covid-19-vaccine
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/recommendations/underlying-conditions.html?s_cid=11413:reasons%20not%20to%20get%20covid%20vaccine:sem.ga:p:RG:GM:gen:PTN:FY21
Basically most people can take it. Even if you have allergies, it can still be taken but should be taken at hospital just in case there is a reaction
Oh Roy’s on board now? Well that changes everything, now we can magically get to 80% and don’t have to worry about changing goal posts again when the inevitable variants come and scare the hell out of the chicken coop. We can continue to deny rights…Yay!!!!
Vaccination rate really slowing. As stated in the article, just 30 first doses and 45 second doses over last 24 hours.
We need 9,836 second doses in the next 6.5 weeks (to Sept 9th) to hit 80% as stated in the reopening plan, of which 7,406 require fist dose (and a space of 3 weeks before second jab).
To hit this target, we need 1,513 second doses per week over the next 6.5 weeks. Over the next 3.5 weeks (to ensure enough spacing for second dose), we need 2,116 first doses per week.
Florida: 20M residents, 131M annual visitors..
Miami Herald:
Since the beginning of this year to July 15, the Florida Department of Health has released the following variant data:
▪ Alpha: There have been 19,438 COVID-19 cases linked to the Alpha variant this year in Florida. The state also reported 538 hospitalizations from the variant.
Over the last 15 days, 3,361 more Alpha variant cases were reported and 190 more hospitalizations.
▪ Beta: There have been 103 COVID-19 cases linked to the Beta variant. The state also reported six hospitalizations from the variant.
Over the last 15 days, 19 more Beta variant cases were reported and two more hospitalizations.
▪ Gamma: There have been 2,502 COVID-19 cases linked to the Gamma variant. The state also reported 111 hospitalizations from the variant.
Over the last 15 days, 957 more Gamma variant cases were reported and 60 more hospitalizations.
▪ Delta: There have been 877 COVID-19 cases linked to the Delta variant. The state also reported 29 hospitalizations from the variant.
Read more here: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article252981888.html#storylink=cpy
Who cares why are you posting this just get vaccinated that’s it
My sister got vaccinated and month later she had blood clots the government doctor said that plenty people’s are coming in with blood clots in their lungs but yet government is not telling the Cayman people.
It is absolutely not true that people are getting blood clots in their lungs and the government is hiding that information. You should be ashamed of yourself for spreading misinformation. Do better.
Stop making up foolishness. How much is plenty people? ugh!
This is a cayman website, not Florida. Get the vaccine and post appropriate stats for the audience.
The photo on the homepage is most uplifting.
😉 Indeed it is.
Gave me a rise.
Good job the Premier and Leader Opposition teaming up trying to get people to get the vaccine. They acting
Like good leaders getting together for the benfit of these Islands,
When you can offer absolute scientific proof this vaccine has no long term effects and is 100% safe then I will take it. Yes, the mass clinical trial looks promising, but at the end of the day it is still an experimental drug. Stop talking in platitudes and convince me, It is scary that you are contemplating mandating an experimental drug into non Caymanians, making people wear wrist bands to delineate vaccinated. XXXX You now call this a pandemic of the unvaccinated (not even original) in an attempt to divide people. Why would the vaccinated be concerned about that. Are they not protected? No doubt the left wing CNS will now quote websites of experts offering opinions disguised at facts, but would never direct you to a site with counter arguments.
CNS: I deleted the deeply offensive reference to the treatment of Jews during WW2, a truly disgusting comparison that has been pushed by right wing talking heads. It’s very sad, ridiculous and dangerous, that facts about public health, as explained by public health experts, are now considered “left wing” and scientific data is considered “opinions”. However, even staunch Republicans in the US are now waking up to reality. Here’s the governor of Florida quoted in Fox 13 and also the gov of Alabama:
Gov. DeSantis: Fully vaccinated Floridians’ chance of surviving COVID is ‘pretty doggone close to 100%’
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey says it’s “time to start blaming the unvaccinated” for COVID spike
I commend you CNS on your reply and professional constraint.
LOL That’s rich complementing CNS while CNS blames “right wing”.
Let’s all jump on that political band wagon.
It is NOT all or nothing in politics. Stop bring that in to the discussion.
I am ‘right wing’ as you call it and I have been vaccinated. I am NOT part of a few people.
CNS: The reference was to “right wing talking heads” who have been the source of comparisons between the Holocaust and either mask-wearing mandates or the push to get people vaccinated, including references to wearing yellow stars. (Tomi Lahren: Flight Attendants Enforcing Mask Mandates Are ‘Nazis of the Air’). Because of this, the comparison has trickeld down into social media, making it more socially acceptable by the airheads who repeat it. Any trivializing of the treatment of Jews in WW2 by the right or the left is deeply offensive and everyone on any side of the political divide should condemn this. I’m sure if you think about it for a minute, you will too.
And when the OC states this experimental drug, yes I was concerned because I think the effects are longer lasting and can do harm. It just may take longer than a year or so to show up.
You do not know. No one can know this.
But anyway, when can I get my booster?!! I want more!!
CNS: You might find this helpful – How Do We Know the COVID-19 Vaccine Won’t Have Long-Term Side Effects?
compared to this – Long Covid: What is it and what are the symptoms?
CNS, interesting links. DeSantis is not blaming anyone and is not demanding mandatory vaccinations. Kay Ivey is the opposite of DeSantis’ strategy.
CNS: Straw man argument. They are both promoting the vaccine is the point I made.
Please gentlemen work together as much as possible to try to get our country thru all the different issues affecting it. Praise The Lord!
Mr Premier, how about letting us know who in the Parliament has had both doses? Leading by example?
Previous Chief Medical Officers Dr Smith and Dr Mclaughlin used to work as specialists and approve referrals.what is the speciality of Dr Lee
Are you suggesting that Dr. Lee never practiced before? If so, show us why are you doing that.
Lots of people with MD to their names never practiced. Just check your medical school professors’s credentials
Pain.
United front to combat Covid is excellent. Pl search for those imaginary 7000 methodically to come to conclusion rather just figures as the 4 to 5000 returning residents since Jan 2021 may have had vaccination elsewhere.
Unity is key. 🙏
They agreed on a pay rise
I wish the two of them would have formed the government together
Two professional and educated Caymanians that we can all look up to. Well done gentlemen, let’s have more of this.
Pity they have to lie with dogs and catch their fleas.
That’s the proverbial water under the bridge.
23% of all the new cases of COVID in the U.S. were in Florida the past week.
How can we possibly open up until Florida people start getting vaccinated like in the North?
We cant without a plan on how to deal with community spread that does not involve lockdowns and curfews.
Don’t worry about it. Cayman is not opening up. they will remain closed until further notice and when the dates come up so will the next round of excuses. You are as safe from Covid as is possible on this planet.
Cases, not deaths or hospitalizations. Some people could have covid and show no symptoms at all. Florida reports all the cases. You know, like all the people in Cayman who had covid but may not have ended up in the hospital or died.
CNS: See Fox 13 – Florida’s COVID-19 hospitalization rate increased 65% since last week
“Florida’s COVID-19 hospitalizations again jumped significantly this week as the vaccination rate in rural counties where some of the worst outbreaks are occurring remains well below the state and national average.”
Some much needed perspective from the country where we think Covid rampaged. CNSNews.com – Since the start of the pandemic 18 months ago, in January 2020, a total of 335 children ages 17 and under have died of COVID-19, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
In that same 18-month time period, a total of 49,725 children ages 0-17 have died from all causes. So COVID deaths account for 0.673 percent of all deaths among children under 17, based on death certificates submitted so far to the National Center for Health Statistics.
Jumping to the next age group, 18-29, 2,446 have died of COVID-19, or 2.607 percent of the total 93,796 deaths for this age group since January 2020.
That is why we should just focus on the rate of vaccination of adults, which in aggregate, is in excess of 80% (and plus 40s are near 90%).
It simply is not a fearsome pathogen for non-adults (unlike some other viruses).
It’s important for people to realize there is zero news coverage on the other reasons for death. 335 kids die of Covid, we will know about it. 49,390 die for other reasons and we only know 18 months later when statistics are provided. We do not have to fear reopening.
The challenge is we are dealing with a good percentage of our people believe, given Delta is so contagious, that every passenger on the Miami flight should have caught Covid from the two separate travelers. Why haven’t they? Were either, or both, travelers part of a family or group. This is mind blowing stuff!
Roy is trying to show Caymanians he’s not a baby and cares about them….at least he’s not crying about the election.
You have shown us how petty you are and unable to move past the election.
That’s because he has already been bleating about it.
So really you mean, he has finally stopped whining about losing the election.
https://fox17.com/news/local/24-fully-vaccinated-people-have-died-in-tennessee-health-department-says-breakthrough-case-virus-coronavirus-
24 fully vaccinated people dead in Tennessee
*CNS: A headline out of context. Read this – TDH: 98%+ of COVID deaths, 97% of hospitalizations are now among unvaccinated
Tennessee Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey provided an update on the state’s vaccination efforts amid the Delta variant surge. During Friday’s update, Piercey echoed the recent comments of CDC Director Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, calling this a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
Piercey said almost all cases of severe illness – resulting in hospitalization or death – are among the unvaccinated. About 97% of all hospitalizations and 98%+ of deaths are among the unvaccinated.
“Let’s keep this in perspective here: We never expected this vaccine to be 100% effective. We were shooting for or expecting kind of 92 to 95% effectiveness. We’re actually seeing much, much higher than that here, but there are some [breakthrough] cases,” said Piercey.
Does anyone still believe anything that FOX News publishes?
NBC says our population is 63,000. I believe them.
That was the Olympic coverage information. The United Nations (UN) estimate is 66,497 as at July 1/21. The estimate by our government is high, keeping our overall vaccinated % low.
That is their “plan”.
“Urging residents to get a vaccine” well how about urging the residents by incentivizing through a 2nd pension fund withdrawal from those grossly underperforming overcharging pensions which are blatantly ripping off pensioners with their 1.5% MER fee. A simple $9 index ETF like QQQ or SPY charges a 0.05% MER at a substantially higher performance and higher dividend yield than those white collar theft pension funds. 2nd pension fund withdrawal = Cayman gets the non vaccinated residents vaccinated. Problem solved and stick it to those effing fat cat owners of those pensions
DAM RIGHT!!!!
As Sesame Street taught me, one of these things is not like the other…..in what way is a pension withdrawal connected to you getting protected from a vaccine?
Any chance you know how to get there? I missed that episode.
Cut the shit and open the border. Everyone who wants to be vaccinated, already is.
How can you now open the border when COVID cases are again out of control in Florida?
Florida MUST / MUST get their act together before we can open up again as Miami not London is our gateway out and in on this island.
Looking at the stats for new COVID cases the past week in Florida one must be concerned.
Florida is now # 1 in America for COVID, growing rapidly and a Governor who does not want to forcefully tell people to get vaccinated. This lack of action is certainly not helping the situation.
The lack of action is the same lack of action that is going on island. Some people are refusing to get vaccinated. Nuff said.
I respect both of these gentlemen and it gives me hope to see them putting the politics aside for something far more meaningful in the present context. I hope reason will prevail more often than egos in the coming four years. Thank you both. Consider holding vaccination drives at supermarkets and gas stations on Saturdays and offering offices the option to have a nurse visit them with the precise number of shots for those staff members that submit their signed consent forms to management ahead of schedule.
Amen! Totally agree..This is how we as Caymanians need to work together.
I also agree with the vaccine drive. We lost a big opportunity at the airport when were turning away people and only vaccinating a couple of hundred a day. Anyone that showed up should have been offered the vaccine. We were never ever in short supply. It was a big mistake that caused many people to not even bother. Now we need to go where they are..
Reach out to some of the major business and offer vaccine clinics. The advertising needs to be stepped up as well. If it’s not in your face, it’s out of your mind.