PLP leader Phillip ‘Brave’ Davis.
By RASHAD ROLLE
Tribune Senior Reporter
rrolle@tribunemedia.net
PROGRESSIVE Liberal Party Leader Philip “Brave” Davis faulted Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ latest national address yesterday, saying the administration lacks a thoughtful and comprehensive plan to address the latest surge in COVID-19 cases.
Dr Minnis on Wednesday night pleaded with residents to ignore misinformation and to see the COVID-19 vaccine as the best way out of the pandemic.
He announced various measures to shore up the country’s fight against COVID-19, including hiring 49 medical staff and 111 nurses and nursing support staff at a cost of $7.2 million.
In a press statement yesterday, Mr Davis recommended that government launch “a public education campaign with medical professionals; a risk mitigation initiative, to make workplaces, churches, homes and schools safer; meaningful consultation and cooperation with local medical professionals, who have been ignored; urgent re-evaluation of the policy permitting entry to vaccinated travellers without a negative COVID test; partnership with the private sector to bring in vaccines, including additional Pfizer doses; a dramatic expansion of both testing and contact tracing; Support for COVID-positive Bahamians who need to isolate; an explanation of the science behind each of the Emergency Orders; more information from the Ministry of Health regarding the sites and sources of transmission, so Bahamians can be more informed about where and how to protect themselves; and making high-quality medical-grade masks available to Bahamians.”
Mr Davis said the government has been slow to respond to the crisis.
“The Minnis government never seems to have a plan; instead of thoughtful and comprehensive preparation, they prefer to react and improvise,” he said. “This is why we are facing a public health crisis without enough hospital beds, or nurses, or doctors, or vaccines, or public education.
“This is why last Friday, the Health Minister, apparently now speaking for the Competent Authority, announced a new series of restrictions, many of which are hard to reconcile with science and don’t pass a common-sense test. Then last night, the Prime Minister focused his National Address on urging Bahamians to get vaccinated.
“The main problem? It’s impossible to get vaccinated without vaccines. The Bahamas is behind nearly every regional neighbour in the Caribbean in vaccinations. The Cayman Islands, Barbados, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Trinidad and Tobago – all of these countries and many more have vaccinated a larger share of their populations.
“Although the Prime Minister has clearly struggled to bring in vaccines, he has yet to explain why he rejected a credible effort by the private sector to bring Pfizer vaccines to The Bahamas in January and February. Tens of thousands of Bahamians could have been inoculated by now, safer from the highly transmissible Delta variant.
“We hope that long-promised additional doses do arrive soon. The government should better prepare for that moment with a public education initiative. The Prime Minister seems to believe that telling people not to be afraid of needles is sufficient public education, an approach that is arrogant and condescending. A much better approach would be to make trusted medical professionals available to answer questions in a series of public education events. Bahamians deserve to have their questions and concerns responded to respectfully by experts.”
More like this story
- PM urges residents to ignore misinformation on vaccines
- 128,700 Pfizer vaccine doses donated from U.S. to arrive on Thursday
- 40,000 J&J vaccines here by month end
- ‘LET’S VACCINATE 200K BY YEAR END’: Health officials set goal of half of nation given jab by January
- Vaccine facilities to be sited on campus
Comments
carltonr61 3 years, 3 months ago
PM instructed tourists and Bahamians once vaccinated to shed mask and party. We must question his holy Compitantcy in the face of science verses his voodoo.
https://sputniknews.com/us/202107301083…
TigerB 3 years, 3 months ago
This fella crazy, only persons can tackle the surge is individual themselves, get vaccinated...no wonder Nassau so full, the PM didn't give anyone COVID last time I check, they got it themselves... no one to blame but themselves.
Cobalt 3 years, 3 months ago
Nobody with sense is paying attention to Phillip Davis. The last time I checked, he ran to the U.S. for specialized treatment after he contracted the virus. Notice that he never presents a solution or any ideas on how the PLP would deal with the pandemic. Instead, all he does is criticize Dr. Minnis. Keep in mind, the whole reason that Dr. Minnis is in office is because of people like Brave Davis. Many of the county’s problems present today existed while he was in office. And he had no solutions then either. All he’s doing is playing politics and plucking the strings of the ignorant, stupid masses of Bahamian people.
tribanon 3 years, 3 months ago
No one with any sense is going to deny that Davis is a most despicable corrupt scoundrel. But in all fairness to him he has said on more than one occasion, albeit with hindsight, that had he been PM he would have called for only the most vulnerable in our society to be vaccinated at the earliest possible time on a voluntary basis. I suspect "do nothing" Davis would have done little more unlike Minnis who took it upon himself to take away our most fundamental civil rights and liberties, destroy our economy, and then borrow like a drunken sailor with the result being that our nation has been pushed over the proverbial cliff without a parachute.
Topdude 3 years, 3 months ago
Here we go again. This troll called Tribanon is continuing to demonstrate its agenda of demeaning our beloved and revered Prime Minister at every opportunity.
Why is it that every post made by this thing is focused on belittling the Prime Minister? It not only makes a mountain out of a mole hill when it attributes every ill in our society to the Prime Minister, it pulls the Prime Minister into every nook and cranny that is discussed in this newspaper. Could it be that this troll would like to be in the Prime Minister’s shoes if only for a day? Or is it that it recognizes that it does not have the charisma of Dr. Minnis or the educational background? Or is it that it is a paid propagandist? Or better yet, it has no real purpose in life that would lead it to build up our nation so it resorts to spewing hate, filth and envy? One has to wonder when you count the frequency of comments published by this thing and the negativity associated with them.
Is this envy or jealousy? Is this what?
tribanon 3 years, 3 months ago
ZZZZZZzzzzzzz..........
licks2 3 years, 2 months ago
One thing you can say about tribanon. . .he/she was like that from 2017. . .that een just started chile!! Oh. . .don't ask what or why tribeanon hates Doc so!!! We never got an answer from 2017 so we just got used to the "green or red" eye thingum tribe does put out!! Now iffin you like Doc plenty plenty. . .tribe get be one big pain inna ya "bungy" until next May. . .and mayhaps a lil bit beyond!! Just don't feed the beast. . .talk about any subject except Doc. . .period!! Good or bad. . .nadda! Cos iffin ya do. . .tribeanon ger take that perfectly good "breen" outta that head, put it in the back pocket and go ape poop on ya tail!! Hey. . .what can I say. . .das just ha tribeanon does roll around here!! You say Doc. . .and it is on!! POW. . .la la la la la la . . .@#$%$$. . .Doc. . .#@!&%. . .Doc. . .$%%^^. . .Doc. . .*%$$#@!!
whogothere 3 years, 3 months ago
Hmm I m not sure we can love and refer any politicians in our country...but hey thats just me...Minnis has been death a crap hand for sure between the hurricanes and covid and by there are by no means any easy solutions to the complex problems...but the easiest solution was simply not to get caught up in the panic....
Cobalt 3 years, 3 months ago
All I smell is shit when Brave Davis opens his mouth. Every sensible human being living in the Bahamas realizes that we only have two realistic options to reduce the spread of COVID19. Either we take our chances with an experimental vaccine, or we shutdown/lockdown the country again. And if we choose the latter, we put thousands of Bahamians out of work again thus breaking an already fragile economy. So….. stop complaining and get vaccinated people! If you do not wish to get vaccinated, then lock yourself down, stay ya ass at home and don’t come outside! Period!
tribanon 3 years, 3 months ago
Yes, Davis stinks to high heaven like most politicians we've come to know since the early 1980's. But at least, unlike Minnis, he has no aspirations of transforming The Bahamas into an authoritarian police state. You few remaining die-hard Minnis supporters are much too dismissive of his power-crazed tyrannical and megalomaniacal behaviour. Pindling thought he was Moses, but Minnis thinks he's God. And that's about as dangerous as it can get for the Bahamian people.
John 3 years, 3 months ago
Maybe the surge is part of the plot to get people to vaccinate. And even though there is a huge surge in new cases, the numbers of deaths remain relatively unchanged. But have faith in the vaccines. When Joe Biden half a press conference a few months ago to announce relaxing of restrictions on vaccinated persons, which included no longer having to wear masks, he kept his mask on throughout the conference. Until a female reporter asked why he was still wearing a mask if it was safe for vaccinated people to ‘toss them.’ Biden briefly removed his mask, answered one or two more questions and left the stage. As soon as he was out of the sight of the cameras, he hurriedly replaced his mask. That is MASK CONFIDENCE. They have since altered the requirements and everyone is once again required to wear masks.
carltonr61 3 years, 3 months ago
Now we know the Covid team in their wisdom allowed a thousand fold Church of God Youth Convention. Many of the deaths and illness steamed from the Compitant mass murder decision to blame Awawak Cay and the public while licensed this unHoly debacle. Brave would never have done that. Who is the dunce now. 😂 Then they scream out, guilty as hell but sounding genuine that many young people are sick begging on deaths door for vaccination but it is too late.
licks2 3 years, 2 months ago
Must we all point or something?? I don't know who is advising Mr D. there fella. . .he really does come accross a lil "snippy" in the breen department fer real nah!!! Kindda lil "duncy-like" . . . a real dumb and dumber thing gern on around here!!! I resting my case nah!!!
CANDACESCOTT 3 years, 2 months ago
Brave 'lil splash' Davis has NO PLANS and struggles to explain himself most of the time.
Sign in to comment
OpenID