Antigua & Barbuda: Mandate booster shots for frontline workers

The government issued a mandated COVID vaccination order for all the frontline workers of Antigua and Barbuda to ensure their protection on Friday.

While making the announcement, government officials cited, “The Cabinet of Antigua and Barbuda, working via a round-robin system, today decided that all frontline workers are needed to move to receive their booster vaccine shots immediately”.

The citizens who suffer from underlying health conditions and are most vulnerable to viral diseases must also get their booster jabs as soon as possible.

“Our Cabinet seeks to bolster the defence of the Antigua and Barbuda nation by assuring that the omicron variant of the Covid-19 infection can meet with a strong readiness,” the government spokesperson added.

Frontline workers who are fully immunised between the month of May and July, previous year are eligible to receive booster shots. Individuals who received their jabs of Pzifer in August can take booster shots of either Astrazeneca or Pzifer next month.

On the other hand, those who have taken Sinopharm vaccine doses are eligible to take a booster shot in an ongoing month only.

The booster shots will be distributed at the Villa Polyclinic and Multipurpose Centre from January 4, 2022.

“The best defence against the COVID-19 disease has been the several vaccines which have been deployed globally. The new variant requires an additional jab to strengthen the waning immunity of the previous two-shots vaccines”, the government noted.

In terms of vaccination, 63.6% of individuals are vaccinated with at least one dose of the vaccine. Meanwhile, more than 58,863 individuals received their required number of jabs and are now fully inoculated.