‘Done tek it already’ - Some Jamaicans not worried about COVID vaccine recall

Earlier this week when Kimberlie Anderson read that the AstraZeneca COVID vaccine is being withdrawn worldwide, her heart skipped a few beats and she hurriedly checked her vaccination card.

Anderson, who is in her mid-30s, said she had taken both doses of the vaccine that is now said to have a rare but life-threatening side effect for some persons. However, she stated that a few minutes later she was back to her normal self after remembering that she does not feel 'sick'.

"If mi a go see mi Maker soon, well a just it that. Honestly, mi sorry mi get vaccine at all, whether it was that one or a next COVID one, because dem did just make too fast. But, mi take it and nothing major nuh happen to it. I am not gonna lie, mi did feel a little way when mi hear about the side effect, but mi done take it already and nobody never draw mi by mi ears to do it, so what mi a go do now? Mi nuh feel sick or anything. Mi just feel like dem make enough money off dem and say this now fi come later with another drug weh dem a go say can remove it from we system," she said.

In an update on the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) website on Wednesday, the regulator said that the approval for AstraZeneca had been withdrawn "at the request of the marketing authorisation holder". AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine was first given the nod by the EMA in January 2021. Within weeks, however, concerns grew about its safety, when dozens of countries suspended the vaccine's use after unusual but rare blood clots were detected in a small number of immunised people.

Sherene said she had taken the vaccine in 2022 because of her desire to travel overseas. She contracted COVID months later but did not have any serious complications. She said she is "not gonna put that on my head".

"I took that vaccine because I was told that the side effects were minimal and except for a little discomfort after [being injected] I am okay. Honestly, I didn't even remember that I get an injection and putting that on my mind now is going to send up my pressure and kill mi off faster," Sherene said.