The Minister of Public Health, Social Development and Labor, Richard Panneflek unveiled details of the COVID-19 vaccination plan last week which is expected to start at the end of February in part Dutch.
The first batch of vaccines is expected to arrive in Sint Maarten in mid-February. Upcoming vaccines are those from the Pfizer / BioNTech laboratory. It is expected that later in 2021 availability will increase. In subsequent batches, Dutch health authorities may receive other brands of vaccine.
Health Minister Richard Panneflek has defined priority groups according to the recommendations of the Health Council of the Netherlands to prioritize those at risk of spreading COVID-19 and those at increased risk of becoming seriously ill when they contract COVID-19.
This means that during the first phase of vaccination, healthcare professionals and people aged 60 and over will be offered the vaccine. In subsequent phases, the vaccine will be offered free of charge to all people living in Sint Maarten, including those who are not officially registered.
The vaccines will be administered to five priority groups. Health professionals are in the first group, followed by people aged 60 and over, then people aged 18 to 59 who have underlying medical conditions, followed by essential workers and those in "critical industries", and finally all other people aged 18 to 59.
The ministry said there would be no immigration checks at vaccination locations.
The COVID-19 vaccine registration is publicly available. Registrations will be processed through an online form or through forms that can be picked up from general practitioners, pharmacies and major government sites.
Once the vaccine is available for each group, information will be relayed through the press and on social networks.
Three strategic vaccination locations have been announced by the ministry: the Vineyard Building in Philipsburg, the Dutch Quarter Community Center and the Cole Bay Community Center.
A specially trained vaccination team will be present at each site to administer the vaccines. These teams include a doctor, nurses, healthcare professionals and translators.
Epidemiologist Eva Lista-de Weever said one of the ministry's goals was to vaccinate at least 70% of the population of Sint Maarten before the start of the hurricane season. She also assured that there will be no delay in the deployment of the vaccine and that the program will proceed as planned.
Note that a vaccination record will be given to all people who have been vaccinated. This will be an official document containing the sticker of the batch of vaccine received. _AF
The vaccination registration form is available on the website:
http://forms.sintmaartengov.org/form.aspx?v=OGtn05kNmb
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