 Hello and welcome to HealthFocus, a production of the Ministry of Health and Wellness. I am Phineleptin. St Lucia has been battling the COVID-19 pandemic, and of late there was the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine to assist in this regard. Today we have of us the Assistant Principal Nursing Officer who's also the immunization manager, Ms Tecla Jamatis, who will speak with us on this. Welcome to the programme. Thanks for having me. Before we go into the discussion as it relates to procurement of the COVID-19 vaccines, why is it important that we in St Lucia have the COVID-19 vaccine? As you know, Ms Neptune, St Lucia has been battling COVID-19. St Lucia, like the rest of the world, have really been battling COVID-19 for over a year now. And it is important for us to have had implemented this public health strategy, again public health, all about ensuring the safety and ensuring the health of our population. The COVID-19 vaccine, it is absolutely necessary for the overall protection of our population against this deadly virus. We know that the effects of COVID-19 can be very detrimental. COVID-19 has affected lives, it has affected livelihoods. And as such, it is important for us to have, for our population to be immunized, to develop that protection against the virus. Of course, when one receives the COVID-19 vaccine, the body launches an immune response against the virus if one were to get exposed to the virus. And we know that immune response is absolutely necessary to protect us, to reduce the risk of severe illness from COVID-19 hospitalizations and even death, as we've seen both here in St Lucia and globally. And in order for us to provide, in order for the government to actually provide those vaccines to the general population, they would have to be procured. Can you speak on the procurement of those vaccines? I know in St Lucia we're using the AstraZeneca vaccine, can you speak on that? Well, like other vaccines, we have to procure, we have to procure because we do not produce a COVID-19 vaccine. For us in St Lucia, we procure the COVID-19 vaccines through PAHU and the World Health Organization. They have been a lot of talk about the COVAX facility and one of our procurement mechanisms is through that facility. You must be asking, what is this COVAX facility all about? COVAX is all about equitable distribution. COVAX is really an umbrella of organizations. That's what the facility is about. And PAHU, World Health Organization, all are included in this facility. So through the COVAX facility, we will be procuring vaccines to cover at least 20% of our population. As I said, COVAX, this mechanism is really about equitable distribution. We understand this is a global pandemic and the aim of the facility is to ensure that those who really need the vaccine get it and that it is distributed across economies, across countries and that everybody has access. So it's about access and ensuring that it is available. So of course, this is not the only mode of procurement for us. We continue to procure through other mechanisms. So as we, in addition to the COVAX facility, we will be also procuring vaccines through PAHU, the revolving fund like we normally do, and also we have had engagements directly with manufacturers. Okay, so you mentioned access of those vaccines. But who are the persons that can actually receive those vaccines and who should not receive the COVID-19 vaccine? The AstraZeneca vaccine is recommended for persons 18 years and older. Very important, we speak of persons, so really persons 18 years and older who are not just healthy persons, but also it is highly recommended for persons who have existing chronic conditions because we see it, even with our deaths in St. Lucia, our COVID-related deaths, many of those persons would have had some other comorbidity, whether it's hypertension, whether it's stroke, whether it's diabetes, some heart disease, asthma. These chronic conditions, they increase the risk of severe illness and death if one were to become infected with COVID-19. As such, we highly recommend those at-risk groups, persons with comorbid conditions. Our elderly population, just by the nature of their age and the immune system not being able to fight off the virus if they become affected with it, then it is highly recommended. So you must be saying that it looks like everybody can get the COVID-19 vaccine. But no, you have certain persons who would have had very complicated or very, or who have medical conditions that COVID-19, that the vaccine, I wouldn't say is contraindicated, but of course they would have to seek medical advice from the healthcare professionals as to whether they should or should not. Of course, if you have had somebody who has been, who has had a severe allergic reaction to not just COVID-19 vaccine, but vaccines on the whole, it is not recommended that these persons take the vaccine. But generally, the vaccine can be taken by most persons in the population. Thank you. Well, we are due for a break and we'll continue the discussion right after. We'll be back in a moment. It's hair, the bio-intellicence biobutton, an innovation to the Ministry of Health's approach in battling COVID-19. The biobutton is a state-of-the-art device. It supports people keeping regular checks of signs of possible COVID-19 infection while placed in home quarantine. It monitors temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate. It is very simple. Just link it to your smartphone and place the button on your chest. It's that easy. The biobutton costs only 100 US for the 14-day period. For further information, please contact the Epidemiology Unit at 468-5325 or 468-5324. Welcome back. We will continue our discussion with Nurse Tekla Jebatis on the COVID-19 vaccine. Before we took the break, you were discussing who are the persons that can get the vaccines and who are the persons who cannot take the vaccine. But quickly, if you can tell us, are pregnant women allowed to take the vaccine? Pregnant women can't take the vaccine. So it's a case of benefits outweighing risk. Whilst we still have ongoing research in that, you know, amounts to this population, but based on the recommendations from the experts on immunization, if someone is pregnant, there's nothing that shows, that have shown rather that the vaccine causes any effect to the fetus. So, and also if a pregnant woman is at high risk, meaning that this person is probably a frontline worker who is at very high risk of contracting COVID-19, say a healthcare worker or somebody with comorbid conditions, with high blood pressure diabetes, some serious comorbid condition, that if they become exposed, can suffer or can get the severe type of the disease, of course they can receive it. Of course, as a healthcare professional, we are to educate them that the benefits of having the vaccine outweigh the risk of it and that it is okay for a pregnant woman, as long as she consoles, she understands the importance of taking the vaccine, she can, but we very much, we encourage the educating of pregnant women who have expressed their willingness to take the vaccine. Great, and some persons may have concerns, they might say, okay, they feel that the virus, the vaccine actually has the live virus in it. Can you speak on this? So the COVID-19 vaccine does not contain the live virus. It's actually a weakened form of the virus, it is not a live virus. And if someone was to take the COVID-19 vaccine, no, they do not get COVID-19. And for some reason, our people seem to think that if you get the COVID-19 vaccine, then you get the virus. No, the virus is not live and someone would not get COVID-19 after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. But whilst I'm on this point, I think it's really important that I speak of the two-dose interval of the vaccine. So of course we've had cases where some persons would have taken the vaccine, have had their first dose and maybe get COVID-19 and get diagnosed COVID-19 thereafter. We have to understand that even after one has taken it, it's a two-dose regime. This is what assures you full protection. So even if you have taken one dose of the vaccine, that doesn't mean that you have to lay your guard down. COVID-19 is still around and if you get exposed, you can get the vaccine. Someone can get the virus. The vaccine does not prevent you from getting the virus because it is around. But what is important is that you continue maintaining the protocols, continue taking all the necessary precautions to reduce the risk of some of you getting the COVID-19 vaccine. So it is very important. The second dose I must say that is very important. This is what assures you full protection from the vaccine. And if you can speak quickly on herbed immunity. OK, so of course, we've been hearing a lot about herbed immunity, about population immunity. Population immunity is the point where you have a certain percentage or a significant amount of persons in your population vaccinated, immunized against the virus. And of course, because there's a significant amount of persons who are protected, then they can, you know, I'm trying my best to put it in a very simple term is that at that point, because so many people are protected, then they are able to provide that sort of protection for the rest of those in the population who for some reason cannot get vaccinated. For us in St. Lucia, we're hoping that we, you know, we, when we get to about 70% of our population, that we would get to that population immunity. And this is what we are really working towards. That being said, I just want to, you know, take that opportunity to really encourage St. Lucia to come forward to take the vaccine. The vaccine, it is safe. It is effective. It is of good quality. And of course, what is most important is ensuring that protection against COVID-19. Thank you so much, Anis Jabatis. It was definitely a pleasure having you here and providing us with this information on the COVID-19 vaccine. You're most welcome. And it was a pleasure having you. Well, that's how we come to the end of Health Focus. On behalf of the entire production team, I am Funnel Neptune. Thanks for watching. Until next time.