Dr. Kenneth “Kenny” Williams taking the COVID-19 vaccine on Dec. 17 at
McAllen Medical Center, McAllen, TX. Dr. Kenneth “Kenny” Williams
Caribbean Life, JANUARY 1-7, 2021 3
By Nelson A. King
As if St. Vincent and the Grenadines,
like the rest of the world,
hasn’t had enough issues dealing
with the COVID-19 pandemic and its
socio-economic repercussions, the
entire country was put on alert on
Tuesday with increased seismic activity
at La Soufriere volcano.
The Dr. Ralph E. Gonsalves-led
Government in St. Vincent and
the Grenadines has raised the La
Soufriere Volcano Hazard Alert Level
to orange “due to an effusive eruption
at the volcano.”
According to Vincentian-born
Prof. Richard Robertson, of the Seismic
Research Centre (SRC), University
of the West Indies St. Augustine
Campus in Trinidad and Tobago,
there was an effusive eruption at the
La Soufriere Volcano, which means
that magma is coming out of the volcano
quietly.
Professor Robertson also stated
that a new dome is also growing
nearby, according to a St. Vincent
and the Grenadines Government
statement.
It said the Orange Alert level
means that “highly elevated level of
seismicity or fumarolic activity or
both or other highly unusual activities
are ongoing.
“Persons living in areas close to
the volcano, which include all the
communities from Fancy to Georgetown
and from Belle Isle to Richmond,
are asked to remain alert and listen
to all advisories from the National
Emergency Management Organization
(NEMO),” the statement said.
The National Emergency Council,
chaired by Prime Minister Gonsalves,
met on Tuesday “to decide on the
course of action that should be followed
to ensure the safety of residents,”
the statement said.
By Nelson A. King
The Brooklyn-based Everybody’s
magazine has named Lewis Hamilton, a
Caribbean-Briton, who is the most successful
Formula One racing driver of all
time, as its Person of the Year for 2020.
Everybody’s said on Monday that
Hamilton, of Grenadian heritage, is the
most successful driver in Formula One
history having won seven world Formula
One Championships, totaling 95
grand prix victories.
“We thank our subscribers and Caribe
Fete fans who sent us their choice
and for making the selection process a
spirited one,” said the 43-year-old magazine,
in a statement, whose publisher is
Grenadian Herman Hall. “Many were
passionate about their choice and sent
us thoughtful, persuasive essays.
“After 42 years of presenting the magazine’s
Person of the Year, we observed
that many broke with custom,” it added.
“That’s reflected in so many in the
Diaspora and across the region rejecting
parochialism and voting for someone
from beyond their respective borders.”
Everybody’s magazine said many of
the popular choices were “very competitive
in the selection process.”
The popular magazine said they
included Barbados Prime Minister Mia
Mottley (“no other Caribbean prime
minister received a single vote this
year”); US Vice-President-elect Kamala
Harris; Trinidadian American Abby
Phillip, CNN White House correspondent,
“who captivated audiences with her
spot-on analysis of the elections and
the pandemic”; and Stacey Abrams, a
former Georgia Gubernatorial candidate
and civil rights activist.
By Nelson A. King
Several Vincentian physicians in the
United States are urging nationals to
embrace the COVID-19 vaccine, saying
it is the best thing to do amid the pandemic.
They made this appeal in light of fear,
reluctance or hesitance among many in
the global community, including the Vincentian
and Caribbean communities.
In separate and exclusive interviews
with Caribbean Life, Drs. Desmond
Browne, Kenneth “Kenny” Williams and
Clifford Young, said the vaccine was the
best tool now being made available to
tackle the deadly virus.
“Everything you do in life is risk versus
benefit,” said Dr. Browne, a family practice
physician in the Prospect Heights,
Brooklyn. “There are people with medical
conditions and people without medical
conditions, and they test positive for
the COVID-19 antibodies, and they didn’t
know they had the virus.
“When you look at the risk, outside of
the vaccine, we really didn’t have a tool to
treat this disease,” added Dr. Browne, also
a staff attending physician at three Brooklyn
hospitals — Brooklyn Presbyterian
Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn Hospital,
and State University of New York (SUNY)
Downstate Medical Center and University
Hospital of Brooklyn. “We really didn’t get
a straightforward cure for it.
“We (should) take the vaccine, because
of the risk of terrible death,” continued Dr.
Browne, noting that more than 300,000
people in the United States also have died
after contracting the COVID-19 virus. “It’s
really apples and oranges here.
“We should jump at the opportunity
to take the vaccine,” said Dr. Browne,
disclosing that he’ll be taking the vaccine
this week. “Absolutely, I’m in favor of Caribbean
and Vincentian nationals taking
the vaccine.”
Dr. Williams, an anesthesiologist at
Edinburg Regional Medical Center, Edinburg,
South Texas, said he did not hesitate
to take the first dose of the vaccine on
Dec. 17 — his second does is due on Jan.
4 — “based on information we (medical
practitioners) were given, safety and everything
else (94-95 percent efficacy).
“Because I deal with patients every
time, I decided to get myself more protection
sooner rather than later,” said
Dr. Williams, who obtained his doctor of
medicine (MD) degree from Temple University
in Philadelphia in 1992 and, subsequently,
completed residency in anesthesiology
at the University of Texas Health
Science Center in Houston.
Dr. Young – an attending physician
at Woodhull Medical Center in the Bedford
Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn
and at SUNY Downstate Medical Center
and University Hospital in Central
Brooklyn, in the heart of the Caribbean
community in Brooklyn – said that,
while “Black people in this country (US)
are fearful of this vaccine, this vaccine
is safe.
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Prime Minister, Dr. Ralph E. Gonsalves.
United Nations / Ryan Brown
Vincentian doctors urge nationals
to take COVID-19 vaccine
Everybody’s magazine Person of the Year
Seismic
activity at
La Soufriere
volcano
Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton of
Britain stands in the pit-lane after
the qualifying at the Formula One
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates, Saturday,
Dec. 11, 2020. Associated Press/Kamran
Jebreili, Pool