After a successful four-day vaccination blitz exercise which accounted for 60 per cent of some 135,473 Jamaicans who have been vaccinated to date, Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton is warning those who have received their jab that “getting the first dose is not an excuse” to disregard COVID-19 protocols.

Speaking during Wednesday (April 14) evening’s COVID Conversation, Tufton, sought to remind citizens and in particular those who have been vaccinated, that “a single dose does not make your resistance, your immunity, your protection guaranteed from the COVID virus”.

“In fact, its important to get the second dose within a period of time to complete the process, to give you the maximum protection”.

The minister went on to add that “getting the first dose is not an excuse not to wear the mask, not to social distance or physical distance, not to sanitise”.

For persons who might have felt that receiving their first dose would have afforded them some level of autonomy over what activities they could engage in, Tufton said: “Getting the first dose is not a justification for deciding that you are going to resume the parties (or) the gatherings beyond the limits that have been established by the orders that the prime minister announced yesterday.

“In other words, getting the first dose is not a free paper to do as you like.”

Said Tufton: “You still have the burden of responsibility firstly to yourself, to protect yourself because you are still exposed and can still get the virus and can still be impacted, but also to protect yourself so you can protect others because you could have the virus and you can pass it on to others.”

He closed by saying that the message to the over 135,000 Jamaicans who have been vaccinated is “that while we are very proud of you, while we commend you for taking that first step, it is not the (end) of the journey”.