Co-cordinator of the National COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign, Major David Clarke says the recently introduced mobile vaccination units are paying dividends with the results trending towards Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley’s target of 50 000 jabs in the next five weeks.
Clarke, who was responding to questions following a donation of $20 000 from Cooperators General Insurance to the Government-coordinated national vaccination effort, disclosed that the daily vaccination numbers were currently just above half of the daily requirement to meet the target. However, he noted that while this was certainly a good start, the drive still had to be significantly ramped up.
“We need to be vaccinating about 1 500 people per day to meet the target of 10 000 per week, so that in five weeks we would have 50 000 people. At present we are just approaching about 800 to 900 persons per day, but we must bear in mind that we are doing first and second doses and we really ought to be doing 1 500 first doses per day,” said Clarke.
He said ramping up inoculation numbers was also key to ensuring that some batches of AstraZeneca were utilised before they expire next month.
In a national address last week, Mottley said she was counting on increased vaccination numbers in Barbados over the next month to determine how and when the current state of emergency would be reviewed, and restrictions possibly lifted or pegged back soon. If things go according to plan, it could mean a return to a time without curfews before Christmas, she suggested.
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