BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — To assist in the management of the COVID-19 pandemic in St. Kitts and Nevis, a generous family in London donated four Samsung tablets to the National COVID-19 Task Force to be used by the Public Health Team.
The Wallace family presented the tablets to the Office of the High Commissioner in London to High Commissioner His Excellency Dr. Kevin Isaac, who shipped them to the Federal Ministry of Health in St. Kitts & Nevis.
The tablets were presented to Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Hazel Laws, by Medical Chief of Staff at the Joseph N. France General Hospital, Dr. Cameron Wilkinson, during the National Emergency Operations Centre COVID-19 Weekly Briefing.
“These tablets were donated by the Wallace family, parents Robert and Mildred Wallace, and son Lionel Wallace,” said Dr. Wilkinson. “This donation is for the expressed purpose of distribution to the COVID-19 Task Force of St. Kitts and Nevis. They are to be used by the public health officers in the performance of their duties in COVID-19 testing and tabulation of information in the field with the ability to connect with the online laboratory information system.
“We also want to thank Dr. Jeffers and NextGen Laboratories, who were helpful in coordinating this venture and bore the cost of the shipment of these tablets from the United Kingdom,” he said.
“The all of society approach that we have emphasized continues to work and we are grateful to the citizens in the Diaspora and those locally who have stepped forward to the call for service,” said Dr. Wilkinson.
In receiving the tablets, Dr. Hazel Laws said, “It is with pleasure that I accept these four tablets from the donor in the United Kingdom. On behalf of St. Kitts and Nevis COVID-19 National Task Force and the Health Emergency Operations Committee, I want to say a hearty thank you for these four Samsung tablets.”
Two tablets will be donated to the Ministry of Health in Nevis.
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — There is a need to begin the public education campaign on COVID-19 vaccinations in the country, according to Abdias Samuel, Chairman of the National COVID-19 Task Force in St. Kitts & Nevis. Samuel indicated that he will lead by example in taking the job.
Samuel welcomed the continued roll-out of vaccines designed to fight COVID-19 during a January 27 National Emergency Operations Centre Weekly COVID-19 Briefing.
“We need to begin the campaign to educate people that the vaccines are safe for us to take,” said Samuel. “We need to take the vaccine. For now, the vaccines and the non-pharmaceutical measures are the only things that will take us to a state of normalcy.”
Chief Medical Officer Dr. Hazel Laws, said at the briefing that the three main COVID-19 vaccines are being administered to populations around the world. These are the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Moderna vaccine, and the AstraZeneca-Oxford vaccine.
Samuel encouraged persons to pay attention to the science and advice from credible experts and doctors, rather than myths circulating online about the vaccines.
“I’m encouraging everyone to debunk all the negativity surrounding the vaccines, and let us prepare as a nation to take the vaccine when it comes and to support our health professionals in this regard,” said Samuel.
“It is expected that St. Kitts and Nevis will have access to the vaccines in the second quarter of 2021,” he said. “The Federation has signed on to the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility (COVAX) and will receive enough vaccines to cover 20 percent of the population in the initial stages.
Laws and Medical Chief of Staff at the Joseph N. France General Hospital, and Dr. Cameron Wilkinson, have indicated that they are willing to take the jab publicly to help put resident’s minds at ease about the vaccine.
CHARLESTOWN, Nevis — Albert Gordon of Guyana has been named general manager of the Nevis Electricity Company Limited (NEVLEC). He will head the company from February 2021.
Hon. Mark Brantley, Premier of Nevis made the announcement at his monthly press conference in Cabinet Room at Pinney’s Estate on January 28.
“The NEVLEC Board of Directors is pleased to advise that Albert Gordon has been chosen as the new general manager of that company. Gordon holds a BSc in Electrical Engineering and an MBA in Finance, along with several other qualifications. He is trained not only in electricity but also in water.
“He is presently employed as chief executive officer of Guyana Power and Light Inc.,” said Hon. Brantley. “His contract ends of the January 31 and he will take up his position with us in February.”
Brantley, who is also the minister responsible for Public Utilities in the Nevis island Administration. He said the company’s board of directors had been searching for a new general manager, and at the end of a number of interviews made the decision to hire Gordon.
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs informs the general public that the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) will hold a Virtual Information Session to discuss the “Building Community Resilience in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean” Project.
This virtual information session will be held via Zoom on Thursday, February 4 at 11:00 a.m. (Barbados time.) This project is aimed at providing small grants to grassroots and community organizations in the Eastern and Southern Caribbean for community-led disaster mitigation and resilience.
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — Underground utility lines and pipes sometimes make it necessary for recently-paved roads to be cut open, according to Public Works Department Chief Engineer George Gilbert. He shared insight into why small sections of roads that were recently paved need to be cut open.
“It goes back to the placement of some utility lines which run underground,” said Gilbert. “It is standard practice for utility companies to be notified before any major road renovation takes place. This affords the opportunity for them to upgrade their infrastructure where necessary.
“The St. Kitts Water Services Department (WSD) is a key partner in this process,” he said. “Since the Island Main Road Rehabilitation Project began in 2018, several older pipes have been replaced. While most of the underground pipes were relocated to run parallel to the road, some of them unavoidably still run across the road.
“Some pipes were impacted during the road works,” explained Gilbert. “In the process, the pipe apparently got broken underground and started leaking. The pipes may be three to four feet underground.
“When you see it manifests itself on the surface, it has spread over a large area so that area has to be cut out,” he said. “The WSD has to go in to change out those pipelines.
“After repairs are completed, a period of time that is allotted before the road is repaved,” said Gilbert. “The allotted period of time is to ensure that there are no other damages in the immediate area that need addressed.”
After officials are satisfied, the road is repaved.
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — In an effort to be business-friendly and environmentally sustainable, the Ministry of Public Infrastructure will soon implement an E-billing system at the St. Kitts Water Services Department.
“The E-billing system that will be employed by the St. Kitts Water Services Department is one that “we believe will be convenient to our customers and eco-friendly,” said Public Works Department Communications Officer, Che-Raina Warner. “We are in the works; we have it in the pipeline, and we will also be reactivating the Water Services Department website so that customers can go to our website and pay their bills.
“This will mean that over time we will steadily decrease the number of paper bills that we distributed by mail,” said Ms. Warner. “We understand that some people who are not tech-savvy, so we can’t completely do away with paper, but the less paper we use the better it is for us.”
The St. Kitts Water Services Department hopes to soon implement its E-billing service.
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — Prime Minister, Dr the Hon. Timothy Harris, is inviting all health-conscious walking enthusiasts to join him on the first ‘2021 Monthly Health Walk’ on Saturday, January 30.
The walk, sponsored by SKN Moves, will take the traditional route, Bellevue Village to Ottley’s Village. It will attract many participants who want to shed some of the pounds they gained during the festive December and New Year seasons.
The event will begin at 5:30 a.m., with participants assembling near the bus stop shelter on the Island Main Road in Bellevue Village in Constituency Number Seven. The Prime Minister represents the constituency in the National Assembly.
The walk will take the participants to Ottley’s hardcourts. Many participants always look forward to the opportunity to walk alongside the Prime Minister and chat with him as he encourages more people to maintain healthy lifestyles. Walking is a perfect avenue towards achieving that goal.
Prime Minister Harris serves as the Caribbean Community’s lead spokesperson on human resources, health and HIV matters. Dr. Harris has been taking healthy lifestyles seriously since April, 2007, when he started monthly health walks in his constituency.
In 2007, the event was known as the ‘Dr Harris Constituency Number Seven Health Walk.’ William Phillip was a founding member of the health walk and was one of the top-ten finishers during the 2020 Prime Minister’s Health Walk, held on November 28. The event was postponed to accommodate the festive December and New Year seasons.
William Phillip walks beside Ms. Giselle Procope during last year’s ‘Health Walk,’ along the Island Main Road in Tabernacle Village.
“I am greatly moved by the enthusiasm our people continue to exhibit every month when they join our Prime Minister on his Monthly Health Walk,” said Phillip. “This is a clear indication that the Prime Minister’s healthy lifestyles message, which has been repeated ever since the health walks started, has fallen on fertile grounds.
“Many people participate in this event due to the health benefits they derive from the exercise,” he said. “On a good day, avid walkers take about an hour to complete the event, with average walkers taking an one hour-and-a-half to complete.”
Phillip appealed to everyone to participate in the event.
“The Prime Minister has given us another opportunity this coming Saturday,” said Phillip. Everyone is encouraged to join him on this walk as we strive to build a healthy nation. Let’s do it by following his example; come out and bring a friend or two.”
Peru has announced a two-week lockdown covering a third of the country, including the capital Lima, amid a significant rise in Covid-19 cases.
President Francisco Sagasti said the increase in infections had pushed hospitals close to collapse. The lockdown will run from 31 January to 14 February, covering 10 regions.
The new restrictions include a closure of all non-essential shops, a ban on domestic air and land travel and the extension of a ban on flights coming from Europe to flights from Brazil in an attempt to curb new, more contagious strains of the virus.
The country has reported more than one million cases and about 40,000 deaths related to Covid-19, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
At the start of the pandemic, Peru imposed one of the earliest and strictest lockdowns in Latin America to stop the spread of the virus. But the measures had limited impact because of the country’s poor healthcare system and several social and economic factors, including the lack of social distancing in overcrowded cities
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts — The Government of St. Kitts and Nevis is forging ahead with plans to find a viable solution to the street vending concern that has developed in the Basseterre area in recent years.
The government announced on January 27, that Austin Farrier of the Ministry of Sustainable Development will head a new Inter-Ministerial Committee that will examine and report on street vending in Basseterre’s city centre.
Prime Minister Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, supported by Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister Andrew Skerritt, met with Farrier to discuss the possible relocation of street vendors.
Street vending in Basseterre.
Prime Minister Harris reaffirmed that his administration supports the entrepreneurial spirit and small business operations in the country. He noted that the overcrowding of the streets in Basseterre by vendors expose pedestrians, particularly the differently-abled and the elderly, to risks and hazards posed by oncoming traffic.
“We have put together a broad based committee drawing representation from within the various departments and ministries of government,” said Hon. Harris. “It extends beyond that to include representation from the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, and representation from those who are engaged in street vending.
“That committee will come together in an organized way to discuss the matter to determine viable solutions to address the street vending problem,” he said. “This has been a perennial issue. “As part of our vision is to beautify Basseterre to provide ease of passage to everyone. We have to solve the issue by looking at the short-term, medium-term and long-term.”
Farrier is an experienced planner within the Ministry of Sustainable Development. He readily accepted the appointment to lead the committee and noted that this matter has long been an area of concern for his ministry.
“At the Department of Planning we have always kept an eye on the vending situation in Basseterre,” explained Farrier. “We have done several reports on the vending situation. We look forward to examining every possible solution and want to decide on a sustainable answer.
The Inter-Ministerial Committee is expected to have representation from the Building Board, the Ministry of Sustainable Development, the Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs, the Police Force, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Chamber of Industry and Commerce, the Transportation Board, the Inland Revenue Department, and street vendors.
The government has in past months urged more vendors to occupy the available stalls at the Basseterre Public Market, as this would help reduce sidewalk congestion around the capital.
Prime Minister Harris said the Cabinet looks forward to receiving recommendations from the Inter-Ministerial Committee within a few weeks.
Older Americans must often face a bewildering online sign-up system that may leave some of the most vulnerable waiting
The Mississippi national guard administers Covid vaccines to people 65 and over at the Trustmark Ball Park in Jackson. Photograph: Suzi Altman/Zuma Wire/Rex/Shutterstock
Earlier this month, the New York-based photographer Hee Jin Kang woke up at 3am and went online to register her elderly parents for the coronavirus vaccine.
She created accounts on five different websites, including portals for state-run vaccination programs as well as hospitals, pharmacies and primary care locations. After hours of clicking through and refreshing various landing pages, she secured time slots for both parents.
“It’s just crazy,” she said. “There is no centralized system. I just couldn’t stop thinking, if you are not tech literate this would just be impossible – they make you jump through so many hoops.”
Biden team plan shake-up to get coronavirus shots into US arms
People across the United States have likened signing up for a vaccine shot in recent weeks to refreshing a page for highly coveted concert tickets. In Michigan, a website for vaccine sign-ups crashed almost immediately after the state expanded vaccine access to people 65 and older. The site, which processes 900 appointments on a typical day, saw more than 25,000 people trying to register. In Texas one website saw 9,000 appointments fill in less than six minutes. Users in Minnesota reported similar issues. Some health departments in Florida are using the ticketing site Eventbrite, leading to concerns about ticket scalpers buying up slots and reselling them.
The Trump administration promised in November that 20m Covid-19 vaccines could be distributed by 2021. As of this week just 18.5 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and about 3.2 million people have been fully vaccinated.
New vaccine doses can only be produced so quickly, but supply is just part of the problem. For Americans whose vaccines are not being arranged through their workplace, scheduling can be a major setback.
Most states have no centralized system to register for appointments and those that do exist are rife with glitches. Both these hurdles have made it difficult for those who aren’t tech savvy and people who don’t have time to refresh an online sign-up all day to get a potentially life-saving vaccine slot.
In fact, online sign-ups raise a number of ethics concerns, public health experts say. Most states in the US are in the second stage of vaccines, meaning people aged 65 and older are allowed to be vaccinated. That poses issues for elderly patients and others with little tech literacy, said Susan Lee, a primary care internist in New York. “The only elderly patients who have been able to get appointments – my parents included – are those who have someone able to advocate for them,” Lee said. “It is heartbreaking.”
Maria Saravia, left, who works at Keck hospital of USC in Los Angeles, helps her mother Sara Saravia, 81, before Sara receives the Covid-19 vaccine. Photograph: Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times/Rex/Shutterstock
In addition, millions of Americans lack access to broadband internet, and just 51% of seniors say they have high-speed internet at home. These statistics are further affected by race: only 58% of Black Americans and 57% of Hispanics own a computer at home, compared with 82% of whites.
Biden has pledged to increase the accine distribution to 1.5m doses a day within the next three weeks and said that anyone who wants a vaccine will be able to access it by spring, but America’s disjointed healthcare system presents unique struggles. One of the only high-income countries in the world without universal healthcare, the US relies on a mix of private and public health resources. The logistical challenges are compounded by the fact that states under the Trump administration were left to roll out their own plan for vaccine distribution with little national direction. On a federal level, a hesitancy from the Trump administration to share data has slowed vaccine roll out, the Biden administration has said.
In a new 200-page report outlining a vaccine rollout, Biden said his administration will facilitate “new technology solutions” to Covid vaccine scheduling. “The federal government will provide technical support to ensure that these systems meet mission critical requirements to support a robust response,” the report said.
Streamlining vaccination distribution and scheduling process as soon as possible will be integral to controlling and eventually ending the coronavirus pandemic, said Seju Mathew, a primary care physician and public health expert based in Atlanta, Georgia.
“We need 85% of the US vaccinated in order to get to herd immunity, so the next few weeks will be huge,” he said. “The only way to take care of this deadly pandemic is to vaccinate people very quickly.”
In the meantime, some states are taking action, private companies are stepping up, and community efforts are emerging. California, where the state government has been fiercely criticized for slow vaccination rates, just launched a state-wide portal called My Turn, which will alert residents of vaccine eligibility. This comes after a crowd-sourced site in California called VaccinateCA organized volunteers to call pharmacies across the state to determine which are providing vaccines to whom and publish what they learn.
A closed sign hangs outside of a school used to distribute coronavirus vaccine in New York City on Tuesday Photograph: John Angelillo/Rex/Shutterstock
Google announced on Monday it would put vaccination locations on its Maps feature. Private companies like ZocDoc, a platform used to register traditional doctor appointments, are offering their infrastructure to schedule vaccines. ZocDoc is partnering with large hospital systems and local governments to better facilitate scheduling. Amazon has also offered to assist with vaccine logistics and is drafting an official proposal to the Biden administration, a spokesman said on Saturday.
It’s crucial the government enable better scheduling logistics because both vaccines approved in the United States – from Moderna and Pfizer – require two doses to be effective. Mathew, the primary care physician, said based on what he has heard from news reports and directly from his patients, he worries people who have struggled to get an appointment for one shot will be more hesitant to schedule a follow-up appointment.
“Scheduling a vaccine should be as easy as booking a ride on Uber or a dinner reservation on OpenTable,” he said. “Otherwise, we are losing patients.”
This won’t be possible without a more streamlined technological approach, said Seema Yasmin, a doctor and director at the Stanford Health Communication Initiative. The system must also keep in mind the inequities that exist in the US healthcare system and in the spread of Covid-19 in the US.
“The same communities disproportionately dying from Covid-19 are being vaccinated at slower rates than white and wealthy citizens,” Yasmin said. “When something as basic as the ability to book a vaccination appointment or even to find out when you might be eligible for a vaccine pose such huge challenges, it can foster mistrust in the vaccination system and the vaccines themselves.”
