Close to 200 Jamalcoansreceived the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine during the inoculation
exercise at the Refinery recently. The vaccination blitz war organized by Jamalco in collaboration
with the Clarendon Health Department to meet the high demand from employees who indicated
their interest and registered to be vaccinated.
Managing Director, Austin Mooney welcomed and thanked the teammembersfor their “responsible
action to get vaccinated to protect and preventthemselves, their families and their co-workersfrom
the COVID-19 virus.” Mr. Mooney encouraged the teamto be ambassadors and to implore all their
associates to “get vaccinated and stop the pandemic in its tracks.”
Prior to the commencement of the vaccination activity, the team from the Clarendon Health
Department gave Jamalcoans the opportunity to ask as many questions as possible about the
vaccine while Public Health Nurse, Ann-Marie Graham was patient as she provided information to
dispel all the myths and misinformation that made Jamalcoans hesitant about taking the vaccine.
Ms. Graham outlined some of the common side effects but noted that side effects are normal signs
that the body is building protection. The most common side effects are pain at the injection site,
fever and chills. These side effects tend to be mild to moderate and go away on their own within 1–2
days,” Ms. Graham said. Jamalco’s Medical Department issued Panadols to all team members and
urged them to take the tablets as a precautionary measure to possible cramping in their arms.
Darnell Griffiths is 24 years old and one of the youngest employees to be vaccinated. He was very
sceptical of the virus and all the information being circulated, “but as I watch people going to
hospital and dying, I know that it will only get worse. I know that there is an actual virus out there so
I decided to get vaccinated to protect myself.”
His mother,Donna Prince who works as a Security Officer at the company was also thankful as she
indicated that herself and Darnell were the last two adults in her household to get vaccinated. “I am
so happy as I also have a daughter who is pregnant and at my age I really want to live to be with my
grandchild, so I am taking the vaccine to protect myself.”
Another employee,Nicona Nembhard also expressed gratitudethat the vaccination day was held at
Jamalco. She is cognizant that at some point everyone will need to take the vaccine because the
virus is going nowhere. I am happy to take it here at my workplace as I am comfortable in this
environment.”
Director of Environment, Health and Safety (EHS), Andrea Spence is very pleased with the response
of team members noting that it is a responsible decision because the COVID-19 vaccine is effective
at protecting us from the virus, especially severe illness and death. She thanked the Clarendon
Health Department for their support on this initiative and noted that “it is obvious that our ongoing
messages aboutthe importance of safety and protection to end the pandemic has encouraged the
team to respond in such a positive way.”