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Dr. Winston Davidson and attorney Isat Buchanan
One public health expert believes COVID-19 vaccination should be mandatory in Jamaica.
Dr. Winston Davidson says Jamaica will not achieve herd immunity if there is a high level of vaccine hesitancy.
He argued that all countries will have to determine what public health measures are best to protect their populations from pandemics.
"And you know that as far as immunisations go, if you do not have full immunisation of your population - between 80 to 85 per cent of your population - you will not get what is known as herd immunity. And if there is no herd immunity, then your population is going to be open to deaths and destruction," he warned.
'Don't curtail rights'
But attorney Isat Buchanan believes Jamaica can achieve herd immunity without curtailing the rights of citizens.
Mr. Buchanan said the Health Ministry should revisit its strategy to target more persons, especially those who are sceptical, delinquent or the so-called "anti-vaxxers".
"The communication around the vaccination...needs to be addressed. So what I will agree with the doctor is that we have a healthy society because we had a duty to protect our children and we got them vaccinated. What we didn't do is to take away the rights of parents who decided that they didn't want their children to be vaccinated," he contended.
Mr. Buchanan suggested the government could implement less restrictive measures which would help to boost vaccination levels as people will have to then decide whether to be inoculated or stay home and miss out.