By: Precious Mills
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Friday 29th October 2021) — Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hazel Laws announced that St. Kitts and Nevis is the first independent territory in the Caribbean sub-region to surpass the WHO’s call to action for at least 40% of its population to be vaccinated by December 2021 — a benchmark the Federation actually crossed as early as August to early September 2021. Speaking at the NEOC briefing on Wednesday 27th October 2021, Dr. Laws reported the Federation has had 2,646 confirmed COVID-19 cases in total (2,225 on St. Kitts, 421 on Nevis), with 294 active cases being monitored, 2,331 recoveries, and 21 COVID-related deaths (18 on St. Kitts, 3 on Nevis). The third wave peaked and is now declining: during the week of 20–26 October, 57 cases were added — 66 fewer than the previous week.
In terms of vaccination coverage: 76.6% of adults have received a first dose and 72.1% are fully vaccinated. Of children aged 12–17, 11.7% have received a first dose and 8.2% are fully vaccinated. Total population fully vaccinated stands at 51.3%. Dr. Laws said analysis shows that 68.4% of COVID cases are unvaccinated, 8.3% partially vaccinated and 23.4% fully vaccinated. Of the 21 deaths, the majority were unvaccinated. “If you are 60, if you are unvaccinated and you have comorbidities, your risk of death from COVID is increased,” she said. The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) will be acknowledging the Federation’s achievement by publishing an article on its strong leadership in the vaccine rollout with global reach. The SKNLP conference is slated for Sunday 28th November 2021.