Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has said he will not force Dominicans to take the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine even as new infections in the country climbs.

In an address to the nation last evening, Skerrit appealed to islanders to use “simple, old common sense” as they decide whether or not to take a shot of the Oxford-AstraZeneca or Sinopharm vaccines on hand.

The prime minister said given the situation, his government will be justified in completely locking down the island but this will not occur as he believes Dominicans will not “veer too far north of common sense” about what needs to be done to stay safe.

The prime minister noted that while COVID-19 infections are rising globally, vaccinations have helped slow the mortality rate.

“Ever since the evolution of the COVID vaccine, many have been inoculated and this I am sure has added in minimising the number of persons contracting and testing positive for the disease,” he said.

“Across the region and the world, there are almost as many active cases of COVID-19 tonight as there were on August 21, 2020. The difference is there were not as many deaths in the past week as there was the week of August 15 last year. And we must ask ourselves why.”

Soon, Dominicans will have a wider choice of vaccines as the prime minister revealed his government is beginning to put infrastructure in place to begin using Pfizer vaccines, which will be donated by the US Government.

Skerrit is not blaming the virus for the surge but rather on Dominicans who refused to be vaccinated.

 

“We were arguably the first country in the region to have vaccines. But yet our uptake rate is not what it should be. I believe many of us dropped our guard and left our defences down. I believe that we got a little comfortable and complacent,” he said.

He expects to see the rate of vaccination and adherence to COVID-19 rules increase.

The government has sent samples abroad to determine what variant is responsible for the island’s COVID-19 spike.

Skerrit said he suspects at least one variant of concern is present on the island.

“I am not proceeding on the basis that that suspicion will be confirmed. But it does not matter at this point because Dominica is a part of the global community and I do expect that at some point, while we will continue to pray and hope for the very best, Dominica will be impacted by the prevalence of these many variants currently active and being transmitted across the globe,” he said.

The highly infectious delta variant, which was first discovered in India, is fast becoming the dominant strain of infection globally.

Delta was confirmed in at least 12 Caribbean states and territories.

In neighbouring Guadeloupe and Martinique, delta is the dominant infection variant.

Meanwhile, within the next few days, businesses, which were been closed for the last three weeks, will be allowed to open a with few exceptions.

Public and private sector businesses are urged to utilise remote working practices where possible.

Skerrit said the country cannot afford to remain closed.

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