The Tribune

By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

HEALTH Minister Renward Wells said yesterday the government is currently engaged in talks with another Caribbean country to secure additional 20,000 vaccines to shore up its vaccine supplies, as officials await shipment for the remaining doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine from the COVAX Facility.

This comes after Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis revealed on Friday his administration had engaged in a vaccine exchange programme with Antigua and Barbuda for 5,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The doses have already been collected, according to Dr Minnis.

Yesterday, Mr Wells said similar discussions are being held with officials in St Vincent and Grenadines for the acquisition of 20,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

He added the country will have those doses returned to its Caribbean counterparts when it receives its third batch of vaccines from the COVAX Facility later this month.

The Bahamas has already received 67,200 of vaccine doses from the World Health Organization led programme so far, while 20,000 doses were donated by the Indian government in March.

However, due to limited supply, the Minnis administration has had to seek help from its neighbouring countries to acquire more vaccines until the next batch arrives.

“We got 5,000 doses from Antigua and Barbuda of which, when we receive our tranche and our doses from COVAX, we will give back to Antigua and Barbuda, “ Mr Wells told reporters.

“And so with St Vincent and the Grenadines, there is a discussion of the 20,000 (doses) and once we would’ve received our tranche, we would return those doses to the various Caribbean countries from which we would’ve gotten.

“And we are supposed to get our doses of AstraZeneca from the COVAX Facility on July 22 so I believe the PM would’ve also spoken to that, but so in lieu of that we’re also looking to secure some vaccines for others as well.”

On Friday, Dr Minnis said the country would receive 33,600 doses from COVAX on July 26.

The move comes as the country’s vaccination rates are steadily increasing, with nearly 96,000 shots administered to Bahamians and residents to date.

Yesterday, Mr Wells assured Bahamians that the government’s vaccination campaign will continue and added that officials are also in negotiations to source different COVID-19 vaccine brands into the country.

He said: “We’re also on two different tracts to receiving Pfizer one through CARPHA, the Caribbean region because the prime minister and his other Caribbean colleagues have been in direct negotiations with the United States and the US will be donating vaccines through the region to CARICOM and we’re looking forward to those being Pfizer.”

Asked how many vaccine doses will be donated by the US, the minister replied: “Well, right now we’re not exactly sure as to how many doses we would be receiving but right now in the Bahamas, in the country we can receive and store in our public health sector at least 100,000 doses of Pfizer.

“We have cold storage for it and we’re looking to increase that amount very, very soon (and) over the next ten days, we will be receiving the storage facility that can hold up to 300,000 doses.”

Yesterday, the minister also addressed concerns surrounding the new Delta variant, which is said to be more infectious.

In recent weeks, the country has seen an increase in virus cases and hospitalisations, with total infections now at 12,889 as of Sunday. Of this count, 812 cases are still active.

Mr Wells said while officials believe it is likely that COVID-19 variants are in the country, they are not certain if the Delta strain has been detected.

He said his ministry is still waiting to receive test results of the samples sent abroad for confirmation.

However, he contended that health officials are “well-positioned” to handle the spike in cases now that vaccinations are underway.

Asked if the government is still hoping to end the emergency orders come August even with the new threat, Mr Wells said the government will be guided by the health officials on the matter.

He said: “We have spoken to the fact that we are being led by their healthcare team and their recommendations, but here is what I’ve always said, before the second wave, we didn’t have the kind of opportunities that we have now and what so that opportunity? We know that the vaccine that we’re using, the AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, these vaccines have been proven effective against all five of the variants of concern so all the Bahamian people have to continue to do is vaccinate so whether the Delta variant comes or the Delta variant doesn’t come—and we have said it’s not a matter of if but when—as long as we continue to vaccinate our people, we will be safe because even if they catch COVID in that kind of environment, the vaccinated people, it is proven that they have not been hospitalised and they experience mild symptoms.”

The Health Minister said the more Bahamians get vaccinated, the more we can open up the country.

He said: “As you can see, we have been relaxing the health protocols in regards to those who are vaccinated and so I think the Bahamian people could look forward to – based on the health team’s recommendation – us moving into a much more open environment.”