Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis speaking on Sunday.
In a national address on Sunday, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said 20,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine are due to arrive on Wednesday.
Dr Minnis said the vaccines, donated by the government of India, were unable to arrive on Sunday as planned because of logistical issues overseas.
The rollout of the first 20,000 doses is expected to begin days after their arrival.
Those eligible to receive these first doses will be:
• healthcare workers in the public and private sectors;
• residents and staff of eldercare homes; and
• non-ambulatory residents registered in the public health system.
Dr Minnis said: “This first and critical priority group includes those who are our first line of defence against the COVID-19 virus and those among the most vulnerable in our population. It is expected that healthcare workers may begin booking their vaccination appointments online within days of the arrival of the vaccine.”
The Prime Minister also stated that:
• Healthcare workers will be vaccinated on-site at their respective institutions.
• Residents and staff of eldercare homes and the registered non-ambulatory will not be required to make an appointment.
• Mobile units will be used to vaccinate residents and staff of eldercare homes and the non-ambulatory on-site, on New Providence and Grand Bahama.
• On the Family Islands, medical teams will administer vaccines to healthcare staff on the island and at eldercare homes and to the non-ambulatory.
• A phased approach must be applied to all islands in this first batch.
• At this stage, vaccines will be administered in phases on New Providence, Grand Bahama and the Family Islands.
The Prime Minister added that the vaccines were pre-qualified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and received Emergency Use Listing approval by WHO - they have also received certification from the Caribbean Regulatory System.
They will be stored at the National Immunization Cold Storage Facility in New Providence and transferred to other islands as required.
Dr Minnis said this is a state-of-the-art cold storage facility and is a secure, temperature-controlled, clean and protected environment.
The Bahamas will also receive 33,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine before the end of March.
“These doses are part of the 100,800 doses which were announced last month and secured through The Bahamas’ pre-payment to the COVAX Facility,” Dr Minnis said. “We have been informed that the remaining 64,200 doses through COVAX are expected to arrive in The Bahamas by the end of May 2021.”
The Prime Minister said that the vaccine is not mandatory, but he urged everyone to take it as soon as they are eligible.
“Taking the vaccine could save your life and that of your loved ones, friends and neighbours,” he said. “The more of us who take the vaccine, the more we can reopen our economy, including to tourists and visitors.”
He added that he will take the vaccine and will encourage his family, friends and colleagues to do the same.
Comments
Honestman 3 years, 8 months ago
OK, so the Bahamas has a population of 350,000 or so. The government has a "Plan" for less than one third in terms of vaccine supply. Can the PM not at least allude to what the government is thinking in terms of vaccinating the remaining two thirds? It sounds to me as if there is no real Plan for a widespread vaccination programme across The Bahamas because government has been slow to set up the necessary contracts with the vaccine manufacturers. I know money is tight following Dorian but this is an opportunity lost. We should have been the first tourist destination to declare ourselves COVID free following a widespread vaccination programme. Sounds like we won't be able to say that until sometime in 2022 at this rate!
tribanon 3 years, 8 months ago
Do you remember ever getting a vaccine for the Zika virus that is transmitted by a certain type of mosquito prevalent in the Bahamas?
newcitizen 3 years, 8 months ago
Why has the government not made purchase agreements with the vaccine manufacturers? For less than $10m we could have vaccines for the entire country.
tribanon 3 years, 8 months ago
Hold your horses! Our supreme ruler has determined that right now the major construction work he has ordered on the many sidewalks in Nassau is a much more important priority than securing good quality corona virus vaccines for his lowly plebes. After all, those padded construction contracts given to his FNM cronies are expected to result in lots of taxpayer money eventually flowing through the back door into the FNM's election campaign coffers. LOL
TalRussell 3 years, 8 months ago
In fact, was so out of the ordinary that even the remaining 13,888 redshirt diehards that was still supporting the Mr. Minnis, had have sneered at why address a colony's popoulaces & residents at large (PRAL), before the first vile vaccines had left India.
Pray, prayers that India's charity, will extend to include the needles when they do ship the vaccines? Yes?**
ThisIsOurs 3 years, 8 months ago
da filamingo is mauve. the archipelagic sign of distress
birdiestrachan 3 years, 8 months ago
Dr Minnis enjoys being PM too much to call an early election. because when he does his days as PM will be over. The others will lose their salaries.
So he pontificates to talk much about nothing concerning the vaccine,
TalRussell 3 years, 8 months ago
Thinking if Atlantis, Paradise Island might relive colony, of this Mr. Minnis, by offering em new home as a resident of the largest open-air marine habitat in the world...where the shools students, could come to take pictures or opt study what is this strange manner in em's with the wonky steer from behind the glass? Yes?
John 3 years, 8 months ago
If you look at the figures, something is not adding up. For example the numbers of corona cases and corona related deaths continue to plummet worldwide and especially in the US. And this includes many areas that have not been vaccinated yet or have only received the first dose of the vaccine (. Johnson and Johnson just started and has only distributed several million of its single-dose vaccine). African countries have had lass cases per capita than most other countries, but the WHO has announced plans to begin mass vaccination in Africa. As if those countries were in a state of emergency. Most of the African natives do not want the vaccine, because most of them have not been exposed to the virus, or, at least, not developed any symptoms. Nor do they know of anyone who has. And this is contrary to Bill Gates prediction that the continent of Africa will be most hardest hit by the Covid-19. Many Africans live in villages or townships where they have little or no contact with the outside world. THE POINT IS: during the initial stages of the AIDS epidemic, persons went to Africa claiming to be distributing AIDS vaccines. And as you know no such vaccine ever existed. And after these vaccine expeditions, the number of AIDS cases skyrocketed. Ten fold in some areas. Then what experts discovered was that new strains of the virus, some never seen if Africa before, started surfacing. And the confirmed suspicion’ was that AIDS was being spread across Africa in the form of vaccines. And when you forget history, you will be bound to repeat same. The Covid-19 is a Frankenstein virus that was retrieved from the frozen graves of Alaska and revived . That is why the vaccines have to be stored at so 70* F below zero temperatures and that is why the virus does not survive in hot, tropical climates.
proudloudandfnm 3 years, 8 months ago
Please keep your idiotic conspiracy theories to yourself...
John 3 years, 8 months ago
You are the one swimming in ignorance. This is a public forum and I have just as much right to state my opinion as you or anyone else. The days when people, like you could silence the masses are long gone. And what I have posted is not conspiracy theory. It is well documented fact. You are the uninformed idiot because rather than fact check, you come here trying to be a bully. Go storm the White House dude! Or go chase down the opoids peddlers. I would bet you your citizenship, you can’t disprove any of what I posted. Any!
tribanon 3 years, 8 months ago
Minnis really should declare that all die-hard FNM supporters are first in line to get the freebie Indian jab. LOL
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