Vaccine hesitancy delaying economy’s rebound – Persaud

Government’s attempts to balance its management of the economy with citizens’ refusal to take the COVID vaccines is delaying the country’s much-needed economic recovery.

This is the assessment of the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Economic Investment, Professor Avinash Persaud, who revealed that the harsh restrictions currently in place to prevent the spread of COVID were supposed to be phased out when vaccines became available.

And while admitting that vaccine mandates without strong consensus could lead to unwanted social disruption, he acknowledged that the “path to normality” weighs heavily on the country’s vaccine numbers.

“Until 80 per cent of the population is vaccinated, Governments have to put in place methods to suppress the spread of the vaccine to limit its variation. Your Government is trying to walk that narrow path forward, doing everything it takes to get vaccines and to vaccinate people while at the same time trying to limit the spread through suppression methods that protect livelihoods as well as lives,” Persaud told Barbados TODAY.

“What is clear is that the path to normality depends on getting vaccine rates sharply higher. I think few could genuinely fault the governments for trying everything it can to get vaccines despite the big Pharma companies not wanting to speak to us directly, deliver them safely and communicate their importance to the public. We are getting there. I, like many, wish it could be faster, but we can only go as fast as a society can go,” the economic advisor added.       

On the question of greater vaccine acceptance, outgoing head of the Private Sector Edward Clarke predicted that in the absence of greater vaccine acceptance, Government would have to review its position on the subject.

Earlier this week, coordinator of the National Vaccine Campaign, Major David Clarke, revealed that even with the robust public education campaign and the implementation of mobile vaccine sites, the target of vaccinating 50 000 people in the next five weeks appears to be elusive.

Meanwhile, the economic advisor revealed that in addition to frontline workers and employees in key sectors, a return of children to school would ease the burden on parents particularly single mothers.

“The pace of vaccination has quickened in recent weeks, but it needs to go faster. The Government’s latest decision to expand who can administer the vaccines and where you can get them and getting people like David Ellis to help frank communication between the public and the Government on vaccination issues should help to accelerate this further. It is the hard work you have to do,” Persaud concluded.
(kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb)