The Cayman Islands is looking at another vaccine threshold to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions – this time for booster shots.
The Ministry of Health and Wellness is about to roll out a booster campaign to increase the local use of the third COVID-19 vaccine dose.
The ministry said in a statement that 80% coverage would be the typical target for any successful campaign. In this case, the government is looking at “milestones”, or a series of smaller steps, and has decided to first target “a basic 60%, but with a final aim of 80%, especially for the older age groups, which are the most vulnerable to severe disease/death”.
The ministry said that “[because] reaching the most ambitious target of 80% might take some time, we did not want this to hamper the move toward re-opening of our society and economy, hence the choice of the 2-step approach”.
The targeted 60% coverage would be an excellent starting point, the statement added.
In Cayman, only 29% of the population and 34% of those over the age of 12 have received the booster so far.
This contrasts with Cayman’s much higher full vaccination rate of 81% of the population and 93% of people who are eligible to be vaccinated over the age of 12.
Speaking on the weekly Cayman Compass talk show ‘The Resh Hour’, Interim Chief Medical Officer Dr. Autilia Newton noted last week that countries like Denmark are now able to lift restrictions because the virus transmission is stabilising and their booster rate is quite high.
Generally, countries with high primary vaccinations and strong booster rates are the ones able to lift restrictions more quickly.
The UK, which announced the lifting of all remaining COVID restrictions for March or shortly thereafter, has a booster rate of more than 60%.
This is why a new booster campaign is going to be launched in Cayman, Newton said.
The booster rate, in combination with other trends and the experience of other countries that have lifted restrictions, is likely to determine policy decisions in Cayman.
Despite the comparatively slow take-up of the third vaccine shot, Newton said, the booster rate among the over-60 year olds and especially those over 80 “is not bad”.
To give more precise figures, officials are still awaiting census data, which may reveal a lower population than the currently used estimate of 71,106. If this is the case, booster rates may be slightly higher than assumed.
Need to promote booster take-up
Newton said more work needed to be done to encourage younger age groups to get the third shot and achieve the 60% milestone along with 80% or more for the most vulnerable older age groups.
These rates would give government and healthcare officials “reassurance” to potentially lift restrictions further.
At this stage, the take-up has been limited because “there hasn’t been a very open, strong booster campaign so far,” the chief medical officer said.
If the 60% threshold is a hard target, a massive step-up of the booster programme will be needed. Otherwise, the lifting of the remaining COVID restrictions could still be more than half a year away.
As of 5 Feb., just under 21,000 people had received a third shot of the COVID vaccine since the boosters became available in October 2021.
In the past month, the ongoing vaccination effort has been flagging, dropping from 1,156 weekly administered booster doses in mid-January to only 313 last week, the health ministry’s situational reports show.
At those rates, with an average of about 650 people a week, it would take more than eight months to achieve a 60% booster rate for the population as a whole, based on current population estimates.
If the 60% rate is applied only to those eligible for vaccinations over the age of 12, it would still take more than six months to reach the target at the current pace.
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IF THEY OPEN THE BOOSTERS TO ALL (YES ALL) CHILDREN OVER 12 YEARS OF AGE THAT WOULD HELP. THIS IS RIDICULOUS THAT IT IS TAKING THIS LONG TO ALLOW OUR YOUNG TEENS TO GET BOOSTED. AND YES, I AM WRITING IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I AM SHOUTING!
70,000 people at the Superbowl….No masks..turn the page already Cayman. This is absolutely absurd already.
“The booster rate, in combination with other trends and the experience of other countries that have lifted restrictions, is likely to determine policy decisions in Cayman.”
What a laughingstock Cayman is.
The Chief Medical Officer says “ there hasn’t been a very open, strong booster campaign so far”. What!!!! Who’s fault is that. The tardiness and incompetence is overwhelming. The UK is lifting all restrictions, but Cayman may have to wait another six months. What!!!! The Tourism Dept can shout all it wants about airlines returning, but, until the ridiculous 2/4/7 day tests are eliminated, tourism is dead. Stop living in a bubble and show some real leadership. People read and watch international news and understand that Cayman is lagging behind all the other Caribbean countries in returning to normalcy. With its ties to the UK you would expect it to be ahead of the pack, not timidly bringing up the rear. PLEASE find the urgency to give us back our lives and FREEDOM.
“At this stage, the take-up has been limited because ‘there hasn’t been a very open, strong booster campaign so far,’ the chief medical officer said.” Seriously? A “strong booster campaign” (?) get real. It’s not going to work. People will get boosted if they want to get booster they won’t get boosted because of a campaign.
How long will it be until the census results are released and we know what number represents 60%? Will they decide to go with 60% of the number of people ELIGIBLE to be boosted or will they go with 60% of the total population? And can we talk about the fact that Caymanians and their dependents are not required to be vaccinated?
Tourism is doomed. I hate to say this but I bet the next step will be requiring proof of a booster in order to be exempt from quarantine. I thought, maybe, just maybe there was hope for summer but if all the current restrictions remain in place for the next 6 months we will be lucky to have a high season in 2022.
UGH!
I’m vaccinated. I did so early days when we were able. I totally bought into “get to 80% open the borders” I am NOT getting a booster. I have traveled several times and done dozens of tests. This is now ridiculous. I have zero confidence in this administration. To tell businesses that there is another year (forget the 8 months lie) is undue punishment.
What restrictions being lifted?
Serious question. Because that could have a big impact on people choosing to get boosted, or not. Balancing the perceived cost of the booster (whatever it is) vs the perceived benefits (whatever they are). And the restrictions that would then be lifted are assumed to be one of those benefits you want people to perceive.
So, what restrictions will be lifted if we hit 60% boosted?
The CIG’s OCD is kicking in BIG TIME!
“officials are still awaiting census data” The census was finished a while ago (2 months?) and they still don’t know how many people there are? Can anyone count to 5 figures?
They have failed at EVERY target number, percentage, and date so far. The closer you get to a number the slower it takes to get there and this will be no exception. Look at the 2 dose number 81%. It’s been 81% now for months.
At this rate the CI’s will be deep into next year before they even start to see the end of this nonsense.
What does the Caymanian constitution say about the steps necessary to recall the Premier? He and his cabinet obviously have NO interest in resuming tourism. Just when it appeared that the return of airline schedules was going to start working (yes, I saw the video of Minister Bryant at the airport sounding all excited and saying that they were going to have some “good news” in the next two weeks) the government comes out with more draconian regulations.
Perhaps the government thinks that all this income from real estate fees etc. is going to continue to replace tourism income.
A lot of people in Cayman didn’t get their first or second shot until the island “started to open” last November – so they wouldn’t even be eligible for a booster yet. And the way that Omicron has flown through the community recently means that a huge percentage of the population now has immunity that will last them a few months at least. These targets when the rest of the world has already moved on are absolute nonsense.
I believe that there are a number of people, including my husband and myself who have had booster shots outside the Cayman Islands. These figures will not appear in Public Health booster vaccination stats. If they had this information, we might be getting closer to the required figure than they think?
We absolutely need to count people who have had the 2 doses, and the virus in the past 6 months, as being “fully boosted”. And then use an accurate population, and measure based on the ELIGIBLE population.
But realistically, let’s just open up, and let adults make adult decisions. We certainly don’t need incompetent CIG making medical decisions for us, or our kids!! I don’t trust them to make decisions for themselves let alone for me!