Eight persons, including Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, have received their first round of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Prime Minister Mottley disclosed this last evening during a COVID-19 update to the nation from Ilaro Court, where she spoke about the level of public education that would occur to educate the population on the importance of getting the vaccine.

Stressing that she would not encourage anyone to do something she would not, the Prime Minister said: “I’m happy to report that therefore, in the course of the last few days that there were five of our medical people at the front line who have taken the vaccination – the first dose, and myself, the Minister of Health and the Attorney General also, were the other three people who took it. My arm is a little sore, but other than that I am in good shape; you see me talking with you and I’m due to take the second dose in a few weeks time as are they.”

While noting that there is concern not just in Barbados but throughout the world about receiving the vaccine, Prime Minister Mottley stated that in order to ensure that the country gets back to a level of normalcy a level of herd immunity would need to occur.

“There will be some people who are a little ambivalent or anxious, and over the course of the next few weeks, we will engage to be able to answer people’s questions, not just in these formal processes, but also through public education that we will do in different media and at the community levels in order to give people the comfort that they need,” the Prime Minister explained as the way forward, in carrying out public awareness on the importance of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

Watch the video below.