BELMOPAN, Belize – The Belize government has reiterated its call for teachers to get vaccinated as it gears to re-launch its national campaign aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Health and Wellness Minister, Michel Chebat, speaking to reportersThe Ministry of Health and Wellness said that there are still hundreds of teachers who haven’t taken the jab even as the authorities have reported that over the last few weeks, several cases of COVID-19 were detected in different schools. The Ministry of Education has since called for an end to face-to-face teaching for this school term.
Health and Wellness Minister, Michel Chebat, said it is important to send this message, especially to teachers.
“Teachers must get vaccinated. We know that children are carriers of this virus but they are more than likely, 95 per cent of the time they are asymptomatic. The problem is that when they go home, they run the risk of infecting the older members of their families and so we want a situation where teachers who are on the frontline with these children who interact every day to get vaccinated,” he said.
“I want to say this as well, that the government is pushing hard to get vaccines for the 12 to 18-year-old group so that we can then focus on vaccinating them and we are hoping that by the time school reopens those vaccines will be in country and at least that age group would have gotten vaccinated before school reopens.”
The government began its vaccine rollout in March and has been appealing for Belizeans to go in and take the vaccine.
In its daily vaccination report, the ministry reported that a total of 26, 017 people have been fully vaccinated, while79, 993 persons have taken one dose of the vaccine.
“Next Wednesday we will be doing a re-launching of our vaccine campaign. It is important to get vaccinated. I cannot stress it. We keep on saying that the worst thing that can happen to you if you get vaccinated is that it is going to save your life,” said Chebat
“And so we will be doing a major push starting the thirtieth of June to try and get as many of our citizens vaccinated. You all will know that we just received a hundred thousand doses of AstraZeneca courtesy of the government of Mexico and so we now have enough vaccines that we want to get as many of our citizens vaccinated.”
Asked whether the government would be providing incentives for people to take the vaccine, Chebat replied “I don’t want to jump the gun because we are going to be doing a press conference next week Wednesday where you will all be invited but we are partnering with the business community to provide incentives for vaccinations”.
The minister also commented on the possibility of Belize seeking vaccines from Cuba.
“They have had great success. As a matter of fact, one of the recent reviews I saw rates the Cuban vaccine at the top of the list in terms of efficacy. We are looking at all possibilities and so the door is not closed on any vaccine.”
Meanwhile, the Belize Police Department says it is cracking down on social events to curb the growing number of COVID-19 cases.
On Wednesday, there were 24 newly confirmed cases which bring the total active cases to 153.
In its press release, the Belize Police Department warned the public that there will be, “stricter enforcement of the COVID-19 regulations,” adding that the police will be monitoring social events and activities countrywide, including but not limited to wakes, nightclubs/bars operating as restaurants, private parties, weddings and beach parties.
The police warned that patrons will be prosecuted.
“The general public is advised to protect themselves by not hosting or attending these events. Anyone caught in violation of these protocols will be prosecuted.”
Chebat told the media that he is concerned about the increase in COVID-19 cases, particularly in the north and south.
“Well, we had one death last week and we are seeing a rise in numbers. We are very concerned with the Orange Walk area and the Stann Creek area. We are seeing increasing numbers and I want to take this opportunity to invite the public to continue to adhere to the public measures.
“The last thing we would want is another lock down of this country but unless we have the cooperation from the public and if we see the numbers going up then we are going to be forced to go back to those measures and we are trying to avoid that all costs,” Chebat added.
