Governor makes urgent plea for booster shots to counter Omicron

(CMR) The governor has issued an urgent for all eligible persons over the age of 18 to take the COVID-19 booster shot given the discovery of the Omicron variant in the Cayman Islands. He issued the following statement Wednesday afternoon:

Today, we have had confirmation that the new Covid-19 variant ‘Omicron’ has arrived on our islands. Unfortunately, this was inevitable given Omicron’s rapid spread across the world.

As a result of the Government’s successful vaccine campaign, 80% of our population have now received two doses. This puts us in a very strong position in protecting ourselves against serious illness or worse from Covid-19. Unfortunately, two doses of the vaccine alone does not give enough protection against catching Omicron. Studies are showing that by far the best defence we have against Omicron is for those eligible to get the booster shot. Boosters increase immunity significantly and give you the best protection against serious illness, hospitalisation and catching the virus.

If you have not had your booster shot, now is the time to come forward. My thanks to those who have already had their booster, please encourage your friends, family and colleagues to do the same. Boosters are literally life-saving and it is urgent that our booster take-up increases significantly.

I know many are concerned about getting sick following the injection. Some have reported mild symptoms such a sore arm or flu like symptoms for one or two days after the vaccine has been administered.  But please don’t make that the reason you don’t come forward for your booster. Get the protection you need now, before Christmas and before Omicron cases start to rise. Omicron is expected to become the dominant variant soon in many countries of the world and results of studies are showing that it spreads faster than other variants.

We have a further batch of vaccines arriving from the UK on Friday for use as first, second and booster shots. The UK will continue to supply us with vaccines for as long as we are making use of the doses.

Every adult across all three of our islands has to do their bit to protect themselves, our elderly, our children who are unable to get vaccinated and our community as a whole. I appeal to the community to inject more urgency into the booster roll-out.