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From left to right: St. Croix Vax-to-Win winner Yuly Gonzalez and St. Thomas-St. John winner Neeta Sukhani Photo Credit: GOV'T HOUSE
The Bryan administration announced the latest Vax-to-Win lottery winners Tuesday, as two more Virgin Islanders walked away with $100,000 each.
V.I. Dept. of Health Territorial Epidemiologist Dr. Esther Ellis announced the winners for the sixth drawing: Yuly Gonzalez in the St. Croix District and Neeta Sukhani in the St. Thomas-St. John District.
Covid-19 Update
Dr. Ellis shared that there were nine Covid-related deaths in the past week, none of whom were vaccinated, she said. “We can prevent more deaths by using the best tool we have against the virus, the Covid-19 vaccine,” Dr. Ellis stated.
There were 261 active Covid-19 cases in the territory as of Tuesday, with 163 on St. Thomas, 81 on St. Croix and 17 on St. John. The positivity rate stood at 4.54 percent.
Relative to hospitalizations, the Juan F. Luis Hospital had 9 patients with 5 ventilated as of Tuesday, while the Schneider Regional Medical Center had 15 patients with two ventilated. "Of the 24 patients hospitalized, none are fully vaccinated,"Dr. Ellis said.
After sharing these statistics, she stated, “The vaccines are working by reducing infections and preventing severe illness and hospitalizations. Our hospitals continue to admit unvaccinated individuals with serious illness despite us having the tools to avoid this. We are seeing decreased hospitalizations but increased deaths and many of our hospitalizations are ventilated. This shows how dire the situation is.”
Dr. Ellis shared that in the St. Thomas-St John district, 426 monoclonal antibodies treatments have been administered, with 171 being administered in August. On St. Croix 103 monoclonal antibodies treatments have been administered, 42 of which were administered in August.
Dr. Ellis said 45.7 percent of the eligible population in the USVI has been fully vaccinated, one of the lowest rates in the U.S. She said the percentage is higher among the elderly population.
She encouraged Virgin Islanders to get vaccinated against the virus, pointing to the Food and Drug Administration's full approval of the Pfizer shot as another reason to get inoculated. She said of the 50 individuals who have died, none were fully vaccinated against Covid-19. "With each death I am saddened. We can prevent more deaths by using the best tool we have against the virus, the Covid-19 vaccines," Dr. Ellis stated.
In responding to the Consortium, Dr. Ellis also made known that the Pfizer vaccine has been the most used in the USVI, with 64,905 doses administered compared to Moderna's 26,139. Vaccination doses for the Johnson & Johnson drug, which has experienced a number of setbacks, were not provided.
Vaccination appointments can be made by calling 340-777-8227, or online here. Dr. Ellis said individuals can “simply walk into any one of our community vaccination centers” to get vaccinated.
Due to an increase in people not following Covid-19 protocols, Dr. Ellis reiterated the latest Department of Health guidelines which also fall in line with C.D.C protocols.
Dr. Ellis said employers should not require a negative Covid-19 test from employees to return work. "Per D.O.H. guidelines, a negative test is not required to return to work. All quarantine is time-based and inline with C.D.C. guidelines.” She said “individuals can test positive for some time after recovering from Covid." However, "a positive test result does not mean they are still infectious.”
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