VI CONSORTIUM
Less than 24 hours after announcing the 50th death in the U.S. Virgin Islands related to Covid-19, the V.I. Dept. of Health on Wednesday announced that a 53-year-old woman became the latest victim.
“After further investigating cause of death and ensuring notification of next of kin, the Virgin Islands Department of Health is saddened to confirm the territory’s fifty-first death related to Covid-19,” D.O.H. said. “The deceased is a 53-year-old female on St. Thomas.”
D.O.H. Territorial Epidemiologist, Dr. Esther Ellis during the Bryan administration’s Covid-19 response update Tuesday, encouraged Virgin Islanders to get vaccinated against the virus, pointing to the Food and Drug Administration’s full approval of the Pfizer shot as another reason to get inoculated. At the time she said of the 50 individuals who have died, none were fully vaccinated against Covid-19. “With each death I am saddened. We can prevent more deaths by using the best tool we have against the virus, the Covid-19 vaccines,” Dr. Ellis stated.
In responding to the Consortium, Dr. Ellis also made known that the Pfizer vaccine has been the most used in the USVI, with 64,905 doses administered compared to Moderna’s 26,139. Vaccination doses for the Johnson & Johnson drug, which has experienced a number of setbacks, were not provided.
As of Tuesday there were 261 active Covid-19 cases territory-wide: 163 on St. Thomas, 81 on St. Croix and 17 on St. John, according to D.O.H.
Dr. Ellis said 45.7 percent of the eligible population in the USVI has been fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in the U.S. She said the percentage is higher among the elderly population.
Relative to hospitalizations, the Juan F. Luis Hospital had 9 patients with 5 ventilated as of Tuesday, while the Schneider Regional Medical Center had 15 patients with two ventilated. “Of the 24 patients hospitalized, none are fully vaccinated,” Dr. Ellis said.