Loop News- Disgruntled parents and students protested outside Antigua and Barbuda’s Ministry of Education this morning against the government’s decision to enforce a vaccine mandate in schools.
Currently, children between 12 and 18 years old, who are not vaccinated against coronavirus, cannot attend school.
But, an online platform is available for the students to continue their education.
Last week, the Ministry of Education said around 3,000 of the 8,000 students, who are eligible to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, are unvaccinated.
One activist spoke to the media and said the children are suffering under the current policy.
“Our children are languishing for want of a good policy and a good system in Antigua and Barbuda. Remote learning is a national disaster and our children have not been able to get an adequate education as demanded by the Education Act of Antigua and Barbuda,” he said.
“We have to stand up for our children. If we don’t stand up, we are going to have a set of children that are not educated, that cannot pass CXC, that cannot get good jobs and that just makes us beggars in Antigua and Barbuda.”
Grenada: Just over 29 per cent of total population fully vaxxed
Meanwhile, over in Grenada, only 29 percent of the total population has been vaccinated.
Grenada continues to be in a favourable place with regards to the number of COVID-19 cases being reported but there has been a slowdown in the number of people taking the vaccine.
Acting Chief Medical Officer Dr Shawn Charles says Grenada’s test positivity is now less than one per cent (0.7 per cent). On November 15, Grenada recorded two new cases and currently has 63 active cases.
With regard to vaccinations, Dr Charles says overall 29.5 per cent of the total population is fully vaccinated.
Overall, 35 per cent of the population in general, has received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, which means just over a third of the population has received at least one dose.
Dr Charles notes that recently the number of people presenting for vaccination has slowed as he explains that as the threat subsides people feel a bit more comfortable and do not see the need to be vaccinated.
He hopes that with time these individuals will have a change of heart and get vaccinated.
On the issue of booster or third vaccine shots, the Acting CMO reiterates Grenada is not opposed to it, however, the total number of vaccines available is not many.
He says there are less than 2,500 doses of Pfizer left, there are around 2,000 to 3,000 doses of AstraZeneca remaining and last week Grenada received a small shipment of Johnson and Johnson (2,000 doses) of which they have already started administering.
Dr Charles says it is difficult to offer boosters in the Pfizer vaccine right now as this is the vaccine that has the greater uptake. He states priority will be given to people who have not had their shot yet.
However, Dr Charles says of the AstraZeneca vaccines where uptake has been slower, they are offering from the doses a third dose to those persons who have received their first two doses and wish to have a third and fall within the criteria for it.
On another note, the Acting CMO is calling on Grenadians to continue to comply and wear their masks. He says masks are becoming a rarity and is cause for concern among locals who should set the example for visitors to the island.
Dr Charles reminds that Grenada was definitely affected by the Delta variant as of the 60 plus samples sent to check for variants, 92 per cent of those samples returned positive for the Delta strain.
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