Patron for the National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC) Dr Denise Eldemire-Shearer, one of the first elderly Jamaicans to be vaccinated against the coronavirus (COVID-19), is singing praises for the seamless process and roll-out by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

Eldemire-Shearer, who received her first booster shot of the AstraZeneca vaccine at the Good Samaritan Inn along Geffrard Place in Kingston on Wednesday (March 10), told Our Today that she found the inoculation mechanism to be very detailed and streamlined. 

“From a personal point of view, I was both relieved and happy and my impression of the process at Good Samaritan was that it was extremely well-organised,” she said.

“From the point of arrival, there were healthcare professionals to meet and guide you through the sanitation and temperature [checks], then to registration [and] vaccination and I thought the observation area was well set up. They had doctors, nurses; they checked on you regularly and then give you a card to say you’ve been vaccinated and give you a follow-up appointment,” Dr Eldemire-Shearer added.

Jamaica’s vaccination drive marks a critical moment in the national response to the pandemic, the UWI educator argued, as the island first confirmed a case of the infectious disease this time last year.

“The most noteworthy moment of this morning is the fact that as we [commemorate] the first anniversary of our [first] COVID case, we are at the point that we have started the vaccination of the country,” she told Our Today.

“The elderly population, of which I am a member, has been on a stay-at-home order for one year now, and this is the beginning of the process for integration back into normal, but safe life. I think that was the most notable moment: recognising that we still have to wear masks [and] sanitise but for us older people, after the second [dose] we will begin to be able to resume normal life,” she explained.

Eldemire-Shearer, who received her first shot around 9:30 am, said she felt perfectly fine and was experiencing no adverse side effects. Speaking with the press after being released from observation, the senior professor explained that she was checked on throughout the 20-minute wait period.

“I’m feeling perfectly normal, I’m about to go to work. I don’t feel any different, I just feel relieved that I’ve been vaccinated,” she said.

Her message to fellow elderly Jamaicans was simple: the vaccine is safe and a necessary step towards a ‘new and safe normal’. 

“My encouragement would be to get informed. We have a number of older people who have taken the vaccine and can attest to the fact that all is well. We have former prime ministers, a former GG and older doctors—all of us are well and this is your opportunity to begin to resume normal, safe life,” Eldemire-Shearer told Our Today.

“Remember ‘normal’ is never going to be the same. ‘Normal’ is going to involve masks, social distancing and sanitising but normal in the sense of going to church, see grandchildren; the vaccine, after the second dose, is going to allow all of that,” she added.

See related article below:

• One year with COVID, Jamaica begins nationwide vaccination drive