Dr Devi Shetty, renowned cardiothoracic surgeon, Chairman of Narayana Health and Founder of Health City Cayman Islands has urged the people of the Cayman Islands to be vaccinated against Covid-19 before the country’s June 9 deadline when its Covid vaccines are set to expire. 

Speaking from Narayana Health City in Bangalore, India which is currently the epicenter of the Covid-19 crisis in India, Dr Shetty said his experience of seeing thousands of Covid patients was evidence that the vaccinations provided protection against the virus.  

“To date my colleagues and I have not seen a single Covid patient in the critical care unit who have had two doses of a Covid-19 vaccine,” he said. “Meaning, vaccinations work.”

“Covid is not going away, it’s not going to go away for a year or two, or maybe forever. However, we are not helpless. We now know the best way to protect ourselves against Covid-19 is vaccination.”

Since the beginning of the pandemic, at least 1 in 50 residents of India have been infected by Covid-19 – a total of 27.4 million reported cases – and over 315,000 people have died from the coronavirus. Only 3% of the population of India have been fully vaccinated.

Dr Shetty said that in his experience the first wave of Covid primarily affected old, frail people, but in the second wave, the Variants of Concern, young people were succumbing to the disease.

“The new variants do not discriminate. Today, it is the young, fit, athletic people who are dying of Covid. The lock down and closed borders of the Cayman Islands have protected the country’s population to date, but the borders cannot remain closed forever, and then, the virus will find you,” he said.

Dr Shetty warned off the possible impact to the country and its people if the vaccination rates were not of a sufficient level to provide widespread coverage and protection.

“There will not be enough ICU beds, oxygen or life-saving medicine, because it will not be a few people that contract Covid, it will be hundreds of people landing at the hospital at the same time. I have seen it all here in India and I do not want to see it again. I do not want to see it happen in the Cayman Islands,” Dr Shetty said.

“Please don’t delay, please get yourself vaccinated against Covid-19 to protect yourself and your loved ones.”

As of 26 May 2021, there have been 79,344 COVID-19 vaccinations given in total in the Cayman Islands.  Of these, 42,790 (66% of 65,000) have had at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and 56% have completed the two-dose course. 

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine being administered in the Cayman Islands requires two doses separated by an interval of 21 days for full protection. The last scheduled delivery of the vaccine to the Cayman Islands was on 7^th April, and the last batches expire at the end of June 2021.

Dr Shetty’s message to the people of the Cayman Islands can be viewed here: