‘I see how much people SUFFER’
Nurse urges Jamaicans to take COVID seriously
While some may be reluctant to be among the first to be vaccinated against the novel coronavirus, nurse Kevin Morrison is ready and waiting.
“I’m going to take the vaccine with no questions asked. As soon as it reach St Ann’s Bay Hospital I will be first on the list,” Morrison told THE WEEKEND STAR.
He said that he has all reason to be trustworthy of vaccines, as he has seen their miraculous work.
“There are a lot of diseases that vaccines have completely eradicated so why should I turn my back on vaccines now? There have been so many vaccines and there has been a lot of controversy surrounding them but they have worked and is now of modern medicine,” he said
The 27-year-old has been working assiduously since last March to help Jamaica fight COVID-19. Having seen the impact the virus has had on his patients, Morrison believes the vaccine should at least be considered.
“The COVID that we saw last year is different from what we are seeing now. Back then persons use to just come in with a headache or cough,” he said. “But since I started hearing about new strain from November until now, the patients coming in are worse now. I’m seeing people with respiratory failure and people are dying daily.”
VACCINE ROLLOUT
Jamaica was set to receive doses of vaccines by mid-February to start immunising two million citizens in 2021. The vaccines have not arrived, and based on information given by Health Minister Dr Christopher Tufton, he is not in a position to make another date public about their arrival. Morrison said the current strain on the healthcare system would ease once persons are receptive of the vaccine.
“It is hard on the healthcare system already so with the vaccine I can see a change. I just want people to cut out the hearsay thing, stop bash the vaccine thing and read because majority of them don’t know about it.”
Overall, COVID infections have passed 22,000 in Jamaica, with 410 deaths up to Thursday. In the same breath, Morrison stressed the importance of Jamaicans realising that COVID is real.
“I don’t know why up to this day people not taking this thing serious. I wish they could come to work with me one day and just see what the patients are going through and hear it from them personally,” he told THE WEEKEND
STAR. “Everybody just want to live their best life but then their relatives get sick and it’s all regrets and ‘if me did know’.”
He added, “I’m passionate about this COVID thing because I see how much people suffer and how hard we as healthcare professionals have to work to save lives. So I would love for persons to just cooperate.”