By: Spokesman Newsroom
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Thursday 10th February 2022) — “I want to focus on hope for 2022. COVID-19 is not going away anytime soon. However, we are hopeful that the emergency phase of the pandemic will end sometime this year 2022.” So said Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hazel Laws while presenting the Health Situation Report at the NEOC briefing on Wednesday 9th February 2022 at NEMA Headquarters.
Dr. Laws explained that COVID-19 could become an endemic disease because of the high level of immunity from the vaccination rollout and immunity from natural infection. “There is a realistic prospect that 2022 will be the year we can begin to live with COVID without much of the fear and anxiety that marked 2020 and 2021. But the most important thing to note is that the COVID-19 vaccination continues to be our strongest line of defense in the pandemic — it provides our people with an added layer of protection against moderate to severe disease, adequate layer of protection against hospitalization and even death.”
Medical Chief of Staff at the JNF General Hospital Dr. Cameron explained: “Now, there might come a point in time where the virus may not completely go away and so it will always be in the community but at a lesser threat because of high vaccination thresholds and immunity from previous infections — and that is when it is said to be an endemic. For example, the flu is endemic; it has been with us for a long time. The hope is that at some point in time, COVID-19 will become endemic where through vaccination, it will not present a significant threat of disease or hospitalisation and death.” To date, since the start of 2022, there have been eleven additional COVID-19 related deaths which were older adults, adding to an overall total of 39 for St. Kitts and Nevis.