"Most effective tool against COVID-19 is vaccine," Dr Wilkinson says

St Kitts and Nevis: Medical Chief of Staff at JNF Hospital, Dr Cameron Wilkinson on Wednesday took it over to social media to urge people to take the vaccine and outlined the benefits.

Dr Wilkinson's post read that complacency and inaction in the fight against Covid-19 are very dangerous. Residents and citizens of the Federation cannot afford to let their guard down and anytime when people get distracted, the virus will use the opportunity to thrive.

Most effective tool against the COVID-19 virus is vaccine! that too is widely available to the people of St Kitts and Nevis. There is irrefutable evidence that the vaccines are safe and effective.

Almost 4 billion doses have been administered worldwide to date with a dramatic decrease in case counts and deaths due to Covid 19 in countries with high vaccination rates.

The virus is, however, continuing to attack through the most vulnerable - the unvaccinated.

The CDC director recently said, "We now have a pandemic of the unvaccinated referring to the rising cases in the USA among the unvaccinated."

The vast majority of persons contracting the virus and being hospitalized are unvaccinated.

Dr Wilkinson added that As long as a large number of persons remain unvaccinated , the virus will continue to spread and mutate with the development of more variants that potentially could be even more transmissible and more deadly.

Although breakthrough infections can occur in the vaccinated, the vaccine continues to be highly effective in preventing severe disease and death.

Here in the Federation, health authorities continue to record positive cases daily as the virus continues to spread mainly among the unvaccinated.

The Delta variant is now the fastest spreading of all variants and it’s only a matter of time before it gets in St Kitts and Nevis. People need to increase the urgency of action in getting persons out to be vaccinated as soon as possible.

When the Delta variant arrives the country will see a marked increase in positive case numbers with increase hospitalizations and even deaths if the country do not have a significant proportion of the population protected through vaccination.

This should be the time when you say that the evidence is clear that the vaccine is safe and effective and that you will chose to protect yourself and loved ones from this deadly virus through vaccination.

"If you are already vaccinated I urge you to help me get the word out as no one is safe until everyone is safe. We all need to play our part in this fight. Please go out today and get vaccinated," Dr Wilkinson stated.