Prime Minister Philip J Pierre is reiterating his plea to Saint Lucians to get vaccinated, amidst a spike in COVID-19 cases. Pierre, earlier this week, expressed concern over the country’s low vaccination rate, noting that it is seemingly at a standstill.
But the COVID-19 vaccines, Pierre told reporters, have proven to be effective against the COVID-19 virus and is the “only way” to get some sort of relief.
“We would hate to have to close the country again, that can’t happen. I want to urge Saint Lucians to get vaccinated. There has been almost a stoppage in terms of vaccination (and) we are very concerned about it,” Pierre said, whilst stressing on the importance of COVID-19 public health measures.
“Follow the protocols. Wear your mask, sanitize; that must continue. If there are events above a certain amount, you have to get the permission of the CMO (Chief Medical Officer),” he added.
Saint Lucia continues to see an increase in its COVID-19 cases with 618 cases recorded from Monday, 9 May to Monday, 16 May 2022.
COVID-19 infections amongst the island’s school-aged population are expected to increase, the Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs revealed last week. But this revelation comes as no surprise, as a number of mass crowd events are being held island wide including the popular street party, Gros Islet Friday Night.
On Monday, the Ministry reported that a total of 53, 706 individuals had been fully vaccinated; 7, 331 received their booster shot and a mere 5, 341 partially vaccinated
“The Ministry of Health, Wellness and Elderly Affairs today Monday May 16, 2022, confirms a total of 61 new cases of COVID-19. These samples were processed on Sunday May 15, 2022, from a total of 209 samples of which 182 samples were from the Ezra Long Laboratory and 27 samples from the Laboratory Services and Consultations Limited,” a statement from the Ministry read in part.
According to the Ministry, these samples were collected from May 13, 2022, to May 15, 2022.
“This number of positive cases makes up 29.2% of all the samples processed on that date. These new cases bring the total number of cases diagnosed in country to date to 24, 396. Confirmation was also received of the recovery of 30 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19. The number of active cases in country to date is 676,” the Ministry noted.
At the time the statement was released, there were seventeen positive cases of COVID-19 admitted at the Respiratory Hospital, of which one was said to be critically ill.