Coronavirus
JAM | Sep 9, 2021

More than 600 industrial belt workers get the jab as Red Stripe hosts vaccination drive

/ Our Today

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Reading Time: 3 minutes

A total of 630 workers from the Spanish Town Road industrial belt received vaccines during a Red Stripe-hosted ‘Trust the Facts, Get the Vax’ event on Wednesday (September 8). 

Speaking at the event, Dr Norman Dunn, state minister in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, said collaboration was vital in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is a war, where all armament must be used. Both the Government and Opposition are of one accord in terms of what we need to do collectively to beat this. Together we have an awesome responsibility, and it’s not just the Government,” Dunn said. 

Hundreds of workers from the Spanish Town industrial belt registered to receive their vaccines at the ‘Trust the Facts, Get the Vax!’, a vaccination drive hosted by Red Stripe in collaboration with the Private Sector Vaccine Initiative, Pepsi Cola Jamaica, Jamaica Biscuit Company and Celebration Brands Ltd. Nearly doubling the target, 630 workers were vaccinated at the event.

Red Stripe partnered with the Private Sector Vaccine Initiative, Pepsi Cola Jamaica, Jamaica Biscuit Company and Celebration Brands Ltd for the vaccination drive with participating companies including Massy Distributors, Newport Fersan, Geddes Refrigeration, Sanmerna Paper Products, Kingston Industrial Garage, Crown Packaging, Ameco, Toyota Jamaica and Berger.

Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson vaccines were available at the event.

Anthony Hylton, the opposition spokesman on industry, investment & global logistics, lauded the companies for taking a collective approach to promoting vaccines with the hope that the country can return to normalcy.

Red Stripe’s Managing Director Luis Prata affirmed the importance of employer involvement in the campaign to inoculate Jamaica.

Hundreds of workers from the Spanish Town industrial belt registered to receive their vaccines at the ‘Trust the Facts. Get the Vax!’, a vaccination drive hosted by Red Stripe in collaboration with the Private Sector Vaccine Initiative (PSVI), Pepsi Cola Jamaica, Jamaica Biscuit Company and Celebration Brands Ltd. Nearly doubling the target, 630 workers were vaccinated at the event.

Echoing the Dunn’s sentiments, Prata expressed his pleasure at the response of his team and those of his Spanish Town neighbours.

“We are happy to play our part in making the vaccination process as convenient as possible for our employees and our neighbours,” he said.

“We are also very pleased to see the positive impact of our education campaigns, reflected in the great number of initially hesitant persons who now realise they can trust the facts.”

Dunn referenced his professional qualification as a pharmacist to urge people to separate myths from facts in their decisions on vaccines.

“Persons are not necessarily resistant to getting it, but they want to ensure the information is right. So we have to look at how we tailor and target our message so that persons can identify critically that vaccination is important. I wish the message of ‘trust the facts’ could be extended because that is the issue,” he said. 

READ: Facts trump myths for newly vaccinated Zitroy Brown

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