by Linda Straker
- Labour shortage and vaccine hesitancy are 2 major challenges faced
- Insufficient staff serving to adequately staff 33 primary healthcare facilities
- Over last 10 years there has been growing trend towards vaccine hesitancy
Health Minister Phillip Telesford said that labour shortage and vaccine hesitancy are 2 of the major challenges that are faced within the Ministry of Health, especially within the Primary Healthcare division.
“Limited human resources, Mr Speaker, is a problem we must confront, as a small island developing state there are insufficient staff serving at the level of primary healthcare and to be able to adequately staff 33 primary healthcare facilities we need at least 250 staff to do that, but at present Mr Speaker we only have 162 staff, that is 88 nurses short,” he told the Lower House while contributing to the 2026 Budget debate.
In his response on 5 December, Telesford said, “Let me make it clear, this is only nurses, but Mr Speaker, this same challenge is replicated across district medical officers, doctors, pharmacists, and other support staff. So, we need additional staff to make this thing work,” he said, explaining that improvement in the primary healthcare system is not just a matter of a shortage of nursing staff.
Speaking on the matter of vaccine hesitancy, Telesford said over the last 10 years or so there has been a growing trend towards vaccine hesitancy. “A growing trend, some make up all kinds of reasons why they do not want their do not want their children to be vaccinated, same parents who were vaccinated, today do not want their children to be vaccinated,” he told the Parliament.
Stressing the benefit of childhood vaccination and other vaccines, he said, “For many of us, Mr Speaker, we will not be able to stand here today in this parliament had we not been vaccinated, but we refuse, Mr Speaker, to vaccinate our children.”
Providing some data to the Parliament, he said, “In 2024, our rate of vaccination was bordered at just 83%, in 2025, as if 2024 was not good enough, we just bordered at 65%. In 20,25 it’s getting worse.”
“Mr Speaker, may I inform this honourable House that in order to achieve herd immunity, we must have a vaccination rate of at least 95%. This is serious; if this trend continues, we will find in just a few short years that we will be having diseases that are uncontrollable. I urge us to take vaccination seriously,” Telesford said.
