The Tribune

By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Tribune Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

THE country’s top infectious disease expert says vaccine coverage in the country needs to be prioritised as less than 40,000 Bahamians have been fully vaccinated and COVID-19 cases surge again.

According to Dr Nikkiah Forbes, director of the National HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease Programme at the Ministry of Health, there is a need to strategise this portion of the fight against the virus as increased hospitalisations have created difficult circumstances at Princess Margaret Hospital and other healthcare centres. She said the level of COVID-19 admissions has gone beyond worker capacity.

The latest data said 92 people are in hospital with COVID-19, 13 of whom are in the intensive care unit.

Dr Forbes said according to information collected, those in hospital are largely unvaccinated — “more than 98 percent”.

This as Ministry of Health officials have suspended most elective surgeries and only emergency cases are being allowed at public facilities, in response to an influx of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.

The Tribune was told the circumstances could trigger tougher measures to arrest the surge. “Well, the hospitalisations are going up and this is challenging because it’s difficult in terms of healthcare workers and being beyond healthcare worker capacity and all of the COVID-19 care centres are having this issue and this is a reflection in the increase in the number of cases that have been going on,” Dr Forbes told The Tribune.

“We’re in a surge of COVID-19 in The Bahamas. So, cases continue to increase, hospitalisations are increasing, deaths are still being recorded and the percent positives of the tests are also continuing to increase and so it is very serious, and we have to do all we can to flatten the curve.

“Following the public health measures will help as well as the public health strategies of information, identification and vaccination. That’s also very important.”

She also said: “We do need to increase vaccination coverage and our aim is to get to herd immunity, which is upward of 80 percent of the population. So, we do need to strategise and make that a priority.”

Officials do not yet know whether any of the new cases are the result of the highly contagious Delta variant, Dr Forbes told The Tribune when asked if it was to blame for any of the newly infected people.

“It hasn’t been proven but remember that it can easily be imported and so just because it hasn’t been proven, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t present.

“The good news is that public health measures are effective against the Delta variant and vaccines are also helpful to prevent hospitalisations and deaths from the delta variant.”

Asked whether she was in support of reintroducing stricter measures as the country has seen before, Dr Forbes declined comment.

As of Tuesday, there were 77 new cases in New Providence, seven in Grand Bahama, one in Abaco, two in Bimini & Cat Cay, four in Eleuthera and four in Exuma for a total of 95 new cases.

At last report, there were 39,366 people fully vaccinated in the country.

The push for more vaccinations comes as there is a low supply in the country. However officials said The Bahamas received 3,496 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine yesterday as the result of a donation from the British Overseas Territories of Montserrat and Anguilla, with the assistance of United Kingdom High Commissioner Sarah Dickson.

“The vaccines are a welcome addition to our current vaccine supplies and will be used to continue the administration of second doses. We express our deep appreciation to the governments and people of Montserrat and Anguilla and the United Kingdom for this much-needed support,” said Dr Merceline Dahl-Regis, chair of the National COVID-19 Vaccine Consultative Committee and special health adviser to the Prime Minister, who received the vaccines yesterday.

Dr Dahl-Regis also thanked the Pan American Health Organization for helping to coordinate the effort.

More vaccines are expected to arrive in the country by the end of the month.