Five years into his lifetime sentence, Adidja Palmer aka Vybz Kartel is still a power house in the Dancehall world.
And might be able to provide the help that the Jamaican government needs in its campaign to vaccinate every eligible Jamaican.
The Jamaican government is pushing for complete vaccinations to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, which has placed the island in a state of semi-lockdown for the past several months.
It has been administering the AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and the one dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine for month but has been meeting a lot of resistance from citizens especially the youth.
So much so that health authorities might have to dump a significant amount of those vaccines as they close to their expiry date if Jamaicans continue to shy away from taking the shot.
There continues to be a pervasive anti-vaccine stance as many rely on conspiracy theories to justify not taking the vaccines.
That’s where Vybz Kartel comes in.
The government is hoping to capitalize on his popularity in the dancehall community to sway some of his followers.
According to the Jamaica health Ministry and the Opposition spokesman, enlisting Kartel’s help might work against the vaccine hesitancy.
Vybz Kartel‘s lawyer said that the artist is yet to be vaccinated as
the shot has not been offered to prisoners. But he might be open to taking it, as well as using his music to help out in the campaign.
Kartel’s lawyer says it best:
“The Government should recognize that dancehall is the biggest influence on the people, and if they are incapable of inciting the-masses, then they should seek guidance. Vybz Kartel, and every-entertainer in the entertainment industry, they have value,”.
The Jamaican government wants to vaccinate 65
percent of those eligible by next March and at least
700,000 persons fully vaccinated by the end of next month.
Vybz Kartel is serving a life sentence following a 2014
conviction for the murder of Clive “Lizard” Williams.
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