The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

Tribune Staff Reporter

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

THE Progressive Liberal Party has raised questions about when the country will receive vaccines purchased through the World Health Organisation’s COVAX facility.

At a press conference yesterday, PLP Leader Philip “Brave” Davis said the process leading up to the country’s vaccination programme has been “really mishandled”.

“We are grateful that vaccinations are now being administered,” Mr Davis, who got the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on Saturday, said.

“There is still a question as to when the second batch of the vaccinations will arrive. They were not able to tell me when I got my vaccination and they still seem to be scrambling to determine and to access more vaccinations.”

PLP Senator Dr Michael Darville, who got his first jab on Friday, shared a similar concern. He explained his views when reporters brought up Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ comments last week suggesting the possibility of having Independence Day and Junkanoo celebrations held later this year.

The senator responded: “We keep hearing about one date, then a next date, then a next date. We’re beginning to lose confidences on the government to give us definite time when we expect the next vaccine but we are hopeful that with the 20,000 doses that are presently in the country we would be able to administer the first jab and with the help of the Almighty we will be able to get the AstraZeneca vaccine that was purchased by the government through WHO and PAHO but time is not on our side because other Caribbean countries are far ahead of us as it relates to vaccinating our population with the size of The Bahamas, which is just under 400,000.”

Earlier this month, the government received 20,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine—a gift from India. However the Minnis administration is still awaiting the arrival of the AstraZeneca doses purchased through WHO, some of which are expected to arrive sometime this month. The AstraZeneca vaccine is a two-dose shot, with the second shot to be administered about 12 weeks after the first.

Last week, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis told reporters he has no intention of relaxing curfew hours for New Providence at this time as it is not the recommendation of health officials. According to Dr Darville, the government needs to demonstrate the scientific basis for the restrictions.

He stated: “We’ve been looking at the numbers, we see a small spike in Grand Bahama, but we need to have more clarification as (a result) of the science and we’re calling on the government to basically demonstrate and to share this science with the general public so that we can be all on the same accord because we’ve noticed in the past that some of the indications for the curfews were not scientifically based and we were concerned where some business establishments were not open while others were open at the time of curfew.

“We need more clarification and the leader is right in his last press release to call out on the government to please demonstrate to the Bahamian people what is the scientific basis for the lockdowns because of the devastating affects the lockdowns are having on our economy. We need, rather than personal feelings, we need more scientific proof.”

While Dr Darville encouraged PLP supporters and others that it is important to take the vaccine, he highlighted there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding inoculation. He suggested having town hall meetings to alleviate the fears Bahamians may have particularly with the AstraZeneca vaccine.

The senator also said the PLP is calling for legislation that moves away from “these draconian” emergency measures and put in more policies they believe would be more effective without affecting civil liberties.