80% of Unvaxed Surveyed Indicate Lack of Trust in Government

March 10 marked two years since Jamaica recorded its first case of Covid-19, and one year since the country received its first shipment of vaccines. The Caribbean Policy Research Institute, CAPRI has found that nearly 80 per cent of people surveyed who did not take the vaccine say they lack trust in the government.

A cross-sectional sample of 1-thousand, 1-hundred and 70 people participated in the survey. Jamaica has the second lowest vaccination rate in the Caribbean with only twenty-two per cent of the population being fully vaccinated to date this despite having an adequate supply of vaccines.

It is said that at this rate the country will almost definitely miss its target of vaccinating sixty-five per cent of the population by March 31 this year. CAPRI’s report sought to determine the underlying factors that contribute to low vaccine uptake in Jamaica. Surprisingly the survey found that more religious people than non-religious people have been vaccinated. 

Four recommendations were made, the creation of easy to understand messaging that speaks to the safety of the vaccine, and emphasizing the role of doctors in delivering these messages, making the vaccination process more convenient and developing a compensation scheme for vaccine related health complications.