NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (June 29, 2021) – – Citizens and residents on Nevis are being encouraged to move with some urgency to get vaccinated before the present batch of Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines expire on June 30, 2021.

Premier Hon. Mark Brantley, speaking to the island’s vaccination drive at his monthly press conference on June 29, appealed to persons who fall within the inoculation range of 18 years to 85 years to head to any of the community centres on Nevis to get vaccinated against the virus.

“Of course we are hoping yet again that people rush out in their numbers to get vaccinated today and tomorrow because the last batch of vaccines we had have an expiration date of June 30…

“We are encouraging everyone to go out today and tomorrow and get vaccinated because the vaccines are available. You will have to wait on an announcement to determine when next vaccines will be available so I’m hopeful that people don’t wait, but they take advantage of the opportunity to go now.

“We are going to be administering vaccines until these run out and we are hopeful that by tomorrow end of day they will all be gone, because people will respond in large numbers to get their vaccine, whether to get their second dose or the first dose,” he said.

As June 28, 5,166 persons on Nevis had taken their first dose of the vaccine and 3893 had received their second dose. This represents approximately 32 percent of the general population on the island. The target population to attain herd immunity on Nevis is 8,594 persons.

The Premier informed that additional vaccines are being sourced in order to resume the program, however any announcement in that regard will come from the Federal authorities.

“We are making every effort to ensure that we get additional vaccines and we would expect to have an announcement on that at the Federal level fairly soon in terms of when those will arrive…I can say though that good progress has been made in relation to sourcing vaccines. I have been engaged at the diplomatic level and so I know that good efforts have been made and there have been some results.”

He emphasized that even partial inoculation reduces an individual’s susceptibility to COVID-19 by providing some level of protection against the virus.

“The science is telling us that some vaccine is better than no vaccine at all, and even persons who have had even one shot still have a high degree of protection compared to those who have had no shot at all.

“So in spite of the fact that they expire at the end of day tomorrow, if you can get your first shot today or tomorrow we are still urging you to do so, and then you get your second shot when the next batch of vaccines arrives, so that way you don’t delay in getting some element of protection now.”

With the exception of Combermere, health centres on Nevis will be administering vaccines from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on June 30.