First Vaccinations Against COVID-19 Underway

17 February 2021

The Government of Saint Lucia has announced the official roll-out of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines in country.

For the past months significant effort has been focused on by public health officials to achieve this milestone for reducing the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on our nation.

Saint Lucians were all invited to witness the administering of the first batch of COVID-19 vaccines as frontline workers from the various lead sectors will publicly receive their COVID-19 vaccination. This took place this morning at the Finance Administrative Centre. It was streamed live via the National Television Network NTN, the Government of Saint Lucia Facebook page and YouTube channel.

The National COVID-19 Vaccination Campaign will be rolled out through a phased approach. The first phase of the COVID-19 vaccine will be administered to the highest risk health care and front line workers, people 65 years and older and people living with chronic conditions.

In the coming weeks, the second phase of the COVID-19 vaccine will focus on people of medium risk, which is health care workers, firemen and policemen, international agencies personnel, caregivers, persons with non-communicable diseases.

In the third phase, the Ministry of Health will focus on vaccinating low risk health care workers, firemen and policemen, non-essential workers and the rest of the population.

The Ministry of Health assures citizens that the COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective. The COVID-19 vaccine will be made available free to citizens and will be given on a voluntary basis.

The Ministry of Health and Wellness encourages the support and participation of all sectors, all communities and all individuals in protecting our nation from the impact of COVID-19. The Ministry will be providing updates on the COVID-19 vaccination drive.