 As St. Lucia joins the Americas in commemorating the 19th Vaccination Week during the period of the 24th to the 30th of April 2021, the Ministry of Health and Wellness is sensitizing the public on the importance of vaccines. During a panel discussion held on Friday, Assistant Principal Nursing Officer and National Immunization Manager, Techleger Baptiste explained that the National Immunization Program in St. Lucia is some 44 years old, having begun in 1977. The program commends with just about three vaccines and has since expanded to what exists today. Baptiste indicated that while many successes have been recorded to date, there have been challenges as well. You know, it's really a good thing to say that, you know, we've maintained vaccination coverage of approximately 90 to 99 percent, you know, in our, in our, in the various antigens. Of course, we have some challenges and I will continue to say that our challenges is more or less with the over one year olds. This is when we tend to see a decline in the coverage for various reasons. You know, some people feel after a child has passed a year, it's almost like for them they're out of the woods. You know, they tend to kind of be a little, they tend to be a little bit back at that point. But of course, we, we've noted it as a, as a, I wouldn't say a gap, but something of concern. And for us in the program, we continually monitor, evaluate, re-strategize to ensure that we sustain and we maintain the coverages, the, the recommended coverages. Medical officer of health, Dr. Glensford Joseph, noted that while various vaccines may be available for the same virus, the doses to achieve the desired effect may vary. Dr. Joseph, explain how medical experts determine the dosage dose. They would recognize that the body's immune response would, you know, move to a certain level in terms of the level of antibodies being produced. And would recognize that if they gave a second dose, then the level of antibodies or the immune response is even more robust. Right. So, if one dose is going to give you some, let's say, 60% or so efficacy or effectiveness, then priming that response with a second dose would allow you to get to a higher level. Now with the AstraZeneca, we have seen that the second dose would allow us to have some 70% or so level of efficacy or you're reducing the risk of developing the severe form of the illness developed, that is, by some 70%. Common side effects of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine include fever, chills, headache and malaise, to name a few. These, according to the National Immunization Manager, should subside in 24 to 48 hours. However, if side effects persist or become more severe, the individual is advised to seek medical care. Community pediatrician Dr. Ugon-Lucy explained the cause of the side effects. Those side effects are the result of the reaction of the vaccine in the body because as it's inside the immune response to produce what Dr. Joseph said, antibodies and some cells, there are also some old innate response that will be incited like production of cytokines. So we know when anybody gets a vaccine, those will be incited and those are some of the things that will cause the fever, the headache, you know, the feeling unwell. So usually it accompanies all of those vaccines and the physician will prepare whoever is thinking that you may feel this and you may feel that and we see that with other drugs. St. Lucia has administered over 24,000 first doses and over 1,000 second doses of the Oxford AstraZeneca vaccine to date. As the ministry continues to roll out the campaign, everyone is encouraged to get vaccinated.