Deputy Governor David Archer Jr has said that the vaccination rate among public officers and law enforcement agencies in the British Virgin Islands is far too low.
The deputy governor made that disclosure during a statement which was issued on social media on Tuesday July 20, as he urged more public service officers and the wider territory to get vaccinated.
He said it is important that a wider section of the public service get vaccinated to protect lives and also minimise future disruptions of its service delivery to residents.
“I make a special plea to the 2600 public officers, our vaccination numbers are too low, they are too low. We’ve already lost three employees and you all know we’ve been significantly impacted daily by persons who test positive or have been in contact with someone who has. While we’ve made a strong commitment to serving our clients and our services continue, any day now this can be altered. Please, give the public service the best chance by becoming vaccinated,” the deputy governor stated.
He added, “At this time I also make an urgent plea to our law enforcement agencies. Your vaccination rates are also too low. You are our defense and we trust you, but unless you are protected you cannot protect yourself and you cannot protect us. I offer my time and my energy to work with you and converse with you that our law enforcement agencies can be better protected.”
15,000 plus fully vaccinated – 10,000 plus partially vaccinated
The deputy governor also revealed the territory’s latest vaccination statistics, stating that more than 15,000 persons are now fully vaccinated and over 10,000 persons are partially inoculated with their first dose of the vaccine.
He said, “Over the past weeks, with the great efforts, approximately 125 persons that I know personally decided to give themselves a fighting chance of living through COVID-19 by being vaccinated…They join and has made a total of 15,620 persons that have been fully vaccinated, 10,810 that are partially vaccinated, for a total of 26,501.”
Archer further pointed to stats which has revealed that 100 percent of the territory’s 23 deaths were unvaccinated.
In addition, he reiterated his point that of the total hospitalization numbers, just one person was vaccinated and they were soon released from the hospital.