JAMAICA | PNP's Dr. Alfred Dawes wants to know the Health Ministry's Position on AstraZeneca's COVID Vaccine withdrawal from the market

KINGSTON, Jamaica. May 9, 2024: Shadow Minister of Health & Wellness Dr. Alfred Dawes wants the Ministry of Health and Wellness to articulate its true position on the COVID vaccines, given the recent developments where the AstraZeneca vaccine was withdrawn by manufacturers citing low demand.

In a statement today, Dr. Dawes noted that several news agencies have carried stories linking the withdrawal of the AstraZeneca vaccine to side effects that include most seriously, blood clots.

Dr. Dawes said "the silence of the MOHW is a cause for concern given that this is the same vaccine used to inoculate thousands of Jamaicans during the pandemic.

People are wondering what this means for them if they took this and other vaccines, if there are any long-term side effects that they may develop as time goes by,” said Dr. Dawes.

“Many healthcare workers and ordinary Jamaicans who advocated for persons to take the vaccines in order to protect themselves, are now left in a precarious situation where anti-vaxxers are claiming victory and threatening to undo the successes of vaccination campaigns involving traditional vaccines” he continued.  

The vacuum created by the Ministry’s decision not to comment on the matter has created a fertile ground for conspiracy theories to spread.

This is particularly troubling when the rhetoric coming from the Government at the time leaned heavily towards vaccine mandates and discrimination against those who chose not to take the vaccines.

“On a personal note, I was a vaccine advocate and championed personal responsibility in protecting oneself through voluntary vaccination and proven but officially scorned early treatment methods.

It was as a result of the government’s decision to hold ‘vaccinated only’ events and the unscientific segregation of the  vaccinated and the unvaccinated, why I closed down my vaccination centre and withdrew from vaccination campaigns.”

“In leading an all or nothing, vaccine-only and no-early-treatment campaign that ‘frowned upon the unvaccinated’, the government divided the nation into anti-vaxxers, vaxxers and pro-vax mandate supporters.

In taking such an extreme position on vaccines, the MOHW cannot now abandon its responsibility to those who supported the personal decision to take the jab through their advocacy or taking the vaccine themselves.

“Jamaicans want to know if they are safe. They want to know if they made the right decision. They want to know whether or not they can trust their government. Only the government can answer these questions satisfactorily.” He concluded.

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