 Welcome to India Nightly. I'm Huma Di Mark. This edition stops stories. Members of the House of Assembly and Senate to be sworn in when Parliament convenes. The Ministry of Health devises a new strategy to encourage COVID vaccination. An Honourable Joachim Henry speaks to consolidation in attaining equity and social justice. The first session of the 12th Parliament is scheduled for Tuesday, August 17, 2021. Members of the House of Assembly will meet at 10 a.m. and members of the Senate will meet at 11 a.m. They will take their oath of allegiance or affirmation and be sworn in as members of the Parliament. Thereafter, both Houses will meet in joint session to receive a message from His Excellency, Deputy to the Governor General Errol Charles. In keeping with the protocols established by the authorities for management of the COVID-19 crisis and with a view of ensuring that established protocols are ahead too, members of the public will not be allowed to the Chimbal Gallery during the sittings. The public can view the live proceedings on the National Television Network, NTN, Channel 122, Government of St. Lucia, Facebook and YouTube. The Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs is devising a new COVID-19 communication strategy with specific messaging tailored to vaccination. Minister Hon. Moses Jabattis and Prime Minister Hon. Philip J. Pierre have held discussions with flow executives on how the telecommunications company can collaborate with the government on an extensive outreach and education program to sensitize the public on all aspects of vaccination debate and COVID-19 management. Tecla Jabattis is the Assistant Principal Nursing Officer and Immunization Manager in the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs. We see the highest uptake in our persons 50 years and older, followed by those who are 25 to 49. And of course, if you look at the difference between that and the lowest uptake, which is our persons, our younger population, persons 18 to 24, you'll see how significant it is. So of course, our re-strategized campaign is really going to be geared and focused towards the younger population. I mean, there's still a big portion of the population who fall within the other age categories who we expect to turn up for vaccines because they, I mean, what we want is to achieve that 70%. But we really want to focus and we really want to encourage the younger age groups to get vaccinated. A mere 14.1% of the population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The data shows that the younger segment of the population is the least vaccinated. The persons having concerns about how fast the vaccine was developed. And we know these are some of the things that continue to affect the acceptance and the increased uptake of the vaccine. So this is the reason why we continue to educate and will be really intensifying our campaign strategy and our public education. So that persons are provided with the necessary information so that they can see the importance of the vaccine and of course, make informed decisions to protect themselves, their loved ones and those around them. Assistant Principal Nursing Officer and Immunization Manager in the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs, Sir Klaja Baptist. Meantime, the Director of the Pan American Health Organization, Paho, Dr. Karissa Eitian has made a strong appeal to citizens of the Caribbean to be vaccinated in order to protect themselves against COVID-19. The statement comes as several countries in the region are facing spikes in COVID-19 cases and the introduction of the Delta variant. I want to make a special appeal to my fellow Caribbean persons to please we have to be extremely careful. We have limited bed capacity and limited ICU capacity in our small islands. We also in smaller Muslim smaller islands, we have limited expertise in terms of the number of healthcare workers, the number of respiratory therapists, the number of anesthetists and our health systems will become overwhelmed very quickly. I don't know the sources of the information that is triggering this level of vaccine hesitancy. I can tell you that they are not scientifically proven and I want to appeal to you to listen to the sources where you have truthful, scientifically based information and evidence. Continuous spread of variants of concern can lead to the overwhelming of the Caribbean healthcare systems. Dr. Eitian assured Caribbean citizens that the vaccines work, particularly those that received emergency use listing from the World Health Organization, WHO. The proof, she said, is that of the people that are now hospitalized in severe illness and death, more than 95% of those have not been vaccinated. To be protected, you need to receive the full dose. If it's two doses, you need to receive the full doses. One dose does not protect you. And please, the best vaccine for anyone is the one available to you. So please make use of vaccines that are available. But at the same time, please adhere to the public health measures. It is really foolhardy to not adhering to public health measures, not becoming vaccinated in a situation where capacity is limited in terms of hospital capacity. It is really foolhardy. We are playing with our lives. So my appeal to you is get up, wake up from that slumber, wake up from that dream. Because we know that the vaccines are safe, they do have side effects. Those are extremely rare. And I want to assure you that we are monitoring the occurrence of those side effects. They are being monitored nationally, regionally and globally. Dr. Etienne encourages Caribbean nationals to follow the protocols in place for their safety and protection. To date, over 1.1 million people in the Caribbean, comprising of about 15% of the population, have been fully vaccinated. According to Paho figures, this excludes Haiti, which recently began its vaccination effort. And back here at home, the Saint-Douche Football Association SLFA is playing its part in the national vaccination campaign. Lyndon Cooper is the president. For us to return to full-fesh football, as you have seen, that there are no spectators for club championship. We must move in an area of going on a pro-vaccination drive. Let me reassure you that the SLFA remains committed to encouraging and to ensuring that all its members, all its players are vaccinated within a prescribed period of time. Football is one of the dominant sports in Saint-Douche, which brings communities to life. The SLFA president says it is crucial for fans to be in the stands. The amended protocols stipulate that spectators and crowds will not be allowed at approved sporting activities. We will give due consideration during, before the commencement of the inter-district competition to ensure that we have spectators back into the stands. But there are only any consideration is going to be for vaccinated persons. President of the SLFA, Lyndon Cooper. The Minister for Equity, Social Justice and People's Empowerment says the ministry has a crucial role in the development of the nation. Hon. Joakim Henry shared his vision for the ministry as he visited with staff of the various departments. More in this report. On Thursday, August 12, 2021, the newly appointed Minister of Equity, Social Justice and People's Empowerment met with staff of the ministry. Hon. Joakim Henry stated that his mandate will be to strengthen existing programs and to foster a culture of caring, humility and empathy for people as it pertains to the ministry's mandate. What I would do as the new minister is to help strengthen those programs, bring the caring aspect and being closer to our people. I'm hoping that we could bring a new, revive a culture of treating our people well. Even when they come to the ministry, if a pregnant mother comes in, give her room to sit comfortably. Those who are lactating and have to breastfeed their child do not leave them standing outside but take them to the conference room and not just do it in the ministry, but also extend that sort of sensitivity to our people on the outside at the various health centers or schools where people go for service. We need to make our people feel well. We need to put them first. The mandate of the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and People's Empowerment is to promote, support and facilitate the participation, development and organization of our people in utilizing their resources to effect self-directed change towards the economic, social, cultural, political and spiritual advancements of themselves, their communities and the nation. Reporting from the Ministry of Equity, Social Justice, Local Government and Empowerment, I am Shivraimarius. And now this notice. The Ministry of Equity, Social Justice and People's Empowerment wishes to notify all public assistant program old clients from the castries districts that payments for the month of July will be made from Monday, August 16th to Wednesday, August 18th, 2021. The payments will be made at the castries down hall from 9 a.m. This is NTN Nightly. Promise Hutchinson is up next. Stay with us. Caribbean ties are connected people then and now. A unique exhibition that presents the diversity and complexity in the Caribbean before the arrival of the Europeans. August 1st to the 31st at the 100-year-old Anglican Annex open daily, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Be part of the past, still present today through stunning exhibits accompanied by live cultural street entertainment. Save the dates. August 1st to the 31st. Welcome back. We now join Promise Hutchinson for the NTN Nouvelle Quiolle. Thank you so much. Thomas, M.M.D. Department of Universities and Performing Arts. A government set aside G.I.S. and Samoib. National Television, N.D.N. Opposite Nouvelle, Quiolle. Opposite O.P.R. Prime Minister. The Ministry of Health and the largest citizens of the government set aside. For the NTN to perform the grant set aside. Where the coronavirus wave is at its peak. With the first six incomes of the Delta variant, the world will have managed to improve its first address while the third will have to go beyond this area. The Ministry of Health and the National Television with me as a minister who has the responsibility to serve the government. We have Philippe J.P. with me as an official minister of health. I am very concerned about the Delta variant. Because scientists and doctors with official ministers have said that the Delta variant can affect people faster, can affect people younger, can affect people more than in hospitals in these countries with the Delta variant. Can affect people more than in me. With all the doctors, it is the kind of people I want to serve the government. Minister Jebartis said that doctors have discovered that since the last dose of the vaccine it is not easy to serve the government to serve the government as a common person who doesn't take the vaccine. And also, the people I can serve the vaccine can affect people with the Delta variant as a common person who can take the vaccine. That's how I want to serve the government. I want to serve the government with me as an official minister of health with me as an official minister of health with me as an official minister of health with me as an official minister of health with me as a kn supercomputer with me as a durch 소, uh Doctora, who is responsible for this work, can help us to improve the situation as quickly as possible. We have a meeting today with a professional who can help us to improve the situation in the first place. Many of these things are touristic. We have Dr. Ernest Hiller, and Secretary Permanay, who has started this consultation and all the departments that have fallen under the ministry. We are looking at how we can help these departments to pursue a new government vision in the country. Some of these departments that have visited were Invest St. Lucia. These departments have facilitated the business to help the people in the country and also to support the medical business that is able to navigate this business more effectively. In the State Department of Tourism, we have given four years to tell you and then invest St. Lucia to know in whose position these various programs have existed. We have these programs to help the people in the country and also our program called Boost. This program is a program that can help the people in the first place, not only in the campaign, but also in the youth economy. We have created all these programs and all these plans to help people in St. Lucia and we are looking at how we can help all these programs to help the people in the country with the government. Speaking of that, the Ministry of University of St. Lucia is responsible for the tourism industry, the creative sector, the investment, the culture, and the information. This is what Dr. Enesile said. He said that it will pay off. And then, yes, we have already visited the various departments that have fallen under the ministry and that we have found a good opportunity to start these departments that have made plans to establish a way to follow the government's vision for the next century to come. We have Dr. Hillet who is responsible for these various departments and also to follow the direction that the government is taking. This is the wood that I have planted for these departments. It has emptied these plants in these programs that I have planted in place to help to follow the government's plans to complete the first plan for the development of this department. Dr. Hillet said that we have a lot of information that will help us to make it possible to start the project and then to complete the production. Thank you very much. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. I thank Mr. Otta for the invitation to join me in the course. I would like to say that the course of life was very difficult to do. Thank you very much. That brings us to the end of NTN nightly. Join us next time at 7pm with our repeat at 7am. You could also catch up with us anytime on the government