CARPHA report shows 74% acceptance for COVID-19 vaccine in 6 Caribbean countries

The report by the Caribbean Public Health Agency shows that 74% of the citizens in 6 Caribbean countries are willing to get vaccinate. This acceptance shows that people now want to protect themselves from the COVID-19 virus and the only weapon to fight with it is vaccination. The acceptance report was produced out from a survey done between 17th February and 18th June 2021.

The names of 6 countries in the list include Curacao, Barbados, Guyana, Saint Lucia, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. At least 26 countries were asked for giving the data regarding the acceptance, but only six countries gave the reports to meet the minimum entrance.

The CARPHA went through 3 surveys and used them as the basis of their study. The Johns Hopkins Centre did the 1st study for Communication Programs reported that 72% of Jamaicans and 59% of persons living in Trinidad and Tobago deny taking a COVID-19 vaccine if it were made available to them. The other study was conducted among healthcare workers of the Cayman Islands reported that 48% were against to take the vaccine. This triggered alarm situation in the world.

Composition of CARPHA’s report: 

•  2,302 people between the age group of 18 and older provided their data for the survey. 
• Females were (66%) and between the ages of 31 and 60 years (68%).
• 63% of the participants were from urban areas.
• 40% indicated having an undergraduate’s degree.
• Total of 312 (14%) of respondents were healthcare workers.
• Healthcare workers who were vaccinated comprise a high percentage as compared to non-healthcare workers (64.4% vs 49.2%).
• The number of healthcare workers that were not vaccinated, vaccine non-acceptance was 22.5%, and undecided was 36.9 per cent.

The report said that 52.9% of participants said they had no concerns about the vaccine against COVID-19, while 47.1% indicated that they were. In conclusion, according to the survey, the top three concerns the people are having were: the speed at which the vaccines were created, the side effects of the vaccine, and not having enough knowledge.