‘COVID was at my doorstep’ - Shaw happy to get vaccine

Having lost his eldest sister, 80-year-old Pauline Hutchison, to the dread coronavirus two months ago, Jamaica's Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Audley Shaw, was determined to take the COVID-19 vaccine as soon as it was available.

Shaw, 68, was among a group of parliamentarians 60 years and older to get jab on Tuesday.

"I felt that it was important that I take my vaccine, because the virus was right at my doorstep," the North East Manchester member of parliament told THE WEEKEND STAR.

Shaw revealed that his sister, who was settling in Florida, succumbed to the virus weeks after getting the vaccine.

"She got a terrible knockdown from the COVID virus and was on a ventilator for a while. The even more painful part of it is that I couldn't even attend the funeral because of the COVID-19 problems, and we were a very close-knit family. I had to attend the funeral virtually," he said. Shaw said that his sister's son predeceased her and COVID may have claimed his life.

"My nephew, Andrew, who coincidentally has a lot of resemblance to me, had died a few weeks before her. They say it's of a heart attack, but there is a suspicion that is also COVID," Shaw said.

Having taken his vaccine, Shaw said that he is feeling good and has urged Jamaicans to take their shot when it becomes available. As he puts it, "The life you save could be your own." He said that he found the process seamless.

"The lady did it so quickly, I had to ask, 'Yuh done already?' And she laughed," Shaw said. "I never felt any reaction at all, and none since then. I haven't had any symptoms. Everybody needs to take their vaccine because we need to get back to normal and get on with our lives."

More than 17,000 Jamaicans have been vaccinated since Jamaica rolled out its vaccination programme on March 10. Two former prime ministers, Bruce Golding and P.J. Patterson have taken the vaccine. Shaw, as well as elder statesmen Mike Henry, Dr Horace Chang, Fitz Jackson and Dr Peter Phillips have taken the vaccine.

"I'm feeling more contented in my mind now that I have received it," said Shaw, who underwent surgeries last year.

"I am doing all right, it is just my voice that is still affected because of the four surgeries I had last year. My vocal cords were damaged from the tubes they pushed down my throat, but my voice is improving gradually," he told THE WEEKEND STAR.