A matter of time
Health experts urge Jamaicans to be vigilant as new COVID subvariant sweeps across the globe
Published:Sunday | July 17, 2022 | 12:11 AMMark Titus - Sunday Gleaner Writer
With the rapid rate of increased transmission of the BA.5 subvariant of COVID-19 now sweeping across Europe and North America, it is likely just a matter of time before it is detected in Jamaica.
However, local medical experts believe that if the vaccination rate intensifies and COVID containment measures become a way of life, then a potential new wave would not put the health sector under pressure.
Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that BA.5, the newest offshoot of Omicron, along with a closely related variant, BA.4, are fuelling a global surge in coronavirus cases.
One international health expert has called BA.5 “the worst version of the virus we’ve seen”, with two of every three new infections being attributed to the subvariant.
The new strain has the ability to outmanoeuvre immune defences and has already been detected in 83 countries, resulting in the resumption of strict COVID protocols in some areas.
“These new strains are not as devastating as the initial novel COVID-19, but the natural epidemiology of viruses is to replicate, so we knew that we would have the replications and the different variants,” Patsy Edwards-Henry, president of the Nurses Association of Jamaica (NAJ), told The Sunday Gleaner on Friday.
“What is concerning is that a number of people seem to believe that we are out of the woods and keep referring to getting back to post-COVID times, but we may never get back to where we were before, and what we call the new normal is likely a part of our lives for years,” the NAJ president said.
“While we are not having as much devastation, as many hospitalisations, or as many deaths, I do think it is still important to know that living with COVID-19 requires changes. If you were diagnosed with diabetes, you would have to be making significant lifestyle changes, so it means that the mask has to become a status quo for everybody,” she said.
Thursday’s figures from the Ministry of Health revealed that a total of 1,464,913 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to Jamaicans. Overall, there were 144,489 cases, with 92,126 persons recovered so far. A total of 3,166 deaths from the virus have been recorded.
Case numbers could be higher, however, as more Jamaicans conduct at-home tests without a formal recording mechanism.
On the global scale, figures from WHO show that overall there have been 558 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, resulting in 6.4 million deaths. Some 12.1 billion vaccine doses have been administered.
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It is not yet known if the BA.5 subvariant is circulating in Jamaica, but during last week’s Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) virtual press briefing, virologist Dr Jairo Mendez-Rico said that it was detected in around 40 per cent of recent samples from the Caribbean.
“This virus knows no borders, especially now that international travel has resumed,” PAHO Director Dr Carissa Etienne said. “We must use every tool at our disposal to protect ourselves, particularly those of us most vulnerable to severe disease and death.
“This means reintroducing public health measures like masks and social distancing when cases spike. Some countries have already begun to do this.”
Dr Mindi Fitz-Henley, president of the Jamaica Medical Doctors Association, believes that it is just a matter of time before the variant is detected locally.
“We have observed that the BA.5 subvariant is in high circulation in the United States and because of the open borders, anything that is there will eventually end up in Jamaica,” she said.
“People seem to be catching COVID repeatedly and their previous infection does not seem to be able to protect them, so it is important that all learn to take personal responsibility and that they apply the things that they have learned over the past 28 months.”
Dr Delroy Fray, clinical coordinator of the Western Regional Health Authority, does not expect any significant increase in hospitalisation, but is appealing for more citizens to be vaccinated.
“I keep preaching the same thing over and over: it does not matter what the variant is, people will continue to catch COVID, but if you are vaccinated, you will not end up in the hospital with severe illness,” Fray stressed. “The people that will get very sick are those who are not immunised, who are immunocompromised. When a virus is endemic, anybody can get it at any time, but vaccination is the key.”
In the tourism industry, local hotels are now enjoying near 100 per cent occupancy, and several major events are back on the entertainment calendar.
Clifton Reader, president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, is anticipating the positive trajectory to continue, despite the threat of the new variant.
“It is not a concern at this time, but we are always monitoring any possible threats and we will act based on scientific breakdown and the knowledge that is out there,” Reader said. “But the summer is still robust and we have several mega events coming up; the signs are promising and we have not seen any cancellation or slowdown in bookings.”