By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

MORE than 21,000 people have been inoculated against the COVID-19 virus to date, as the government awaits the second shipment of COVAX-generated vaccines scheduled to arrive in May.

Dr Mercelene Dahl-Regis, chairperson of the National COVID-19 Vaccine Consultative Committee, made this announcement at a press conference yesterday updating the nation on the roll out of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. As the roll out continues, some people who have taken the vaccine are concerned about there being enough shots available for them to receive a second dose.

Dr Dahl-Regis said officials are “committed to the two-dose vaccine schedule”.

There is still concern in some quarters about the side effects of the vaccine and even some reports about vaccine recipients contracting the virus after taking it. Dr Dahl-Regis addressed both points.

“There might be side effects from the vaccine, but these side effects have not shown to be life threatening,” she said during a press conference. “The monitoring of all adverse events supposedly attributed to the vaccination is ongoing. This provides for the documentation of adverse events following vaccination.

“To date of all the doses given, there have been no hospitalisations or deaths recorded in vaccinated individuals. Following vaccinations, the immune response build-up is over a 90-day period on average. During this time, the individual may become infected with the COVID-19 virus but is unlikely to have severe disease. While infected, you may also transmit the virus.”

As for the second dose, which is suggested to take place eight to 12 weeks after the first shot, Dr Dahl-Regis said she does not think supplies will run out.

The administration of the second dose will begin on May 10.

“We are committed to the two-dose vaccine schedule,” she continued. “Given the uptake, I do not think we are going to run out of second dose options. The calculations are ongoing, but we do as a committee commit to recommending the second dose, although as the science is published, we are pleased to learn that the efficacy of the AstraZeneca has increased to 81 percent in some studies.

“So, you are protected even with the first dose. We are hoping that we are able to give the booster dose based on our calculations and the commitment of the supplies. We have gotten the commitment already, we just have to receive the supplies.”

Officials said 21,907 doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered in The Bahamas. Of this figure, 16,934 people have received inoculations on New Providence; 3,512 on Grand Bahama; 832 on Abaco and 638 on Eleuthera.

Dr Dahl-Regis was asked about the third wave of COVID-19 and the possibility of ramping up the inoculations to ward off the threat. She said every attempt is being made to do the same.

“We would very much like to do that,” she said. “We have been told that we are overly ambitious. The success in the Abacos, the team said they have very little sleep. They travelled long hours and they vaccinated many people. We did Abaco and the cays over a five-day period. It appears that we maybe taxing the human resource capacities that we have, but they are willing to try and that’s our attempt at accelerating the vaccine programme in the Family Islands.

“When it comes to New Providence, we are going to do our best to keep the sites open with the staff that we currently have. We also welcome any volunteers, any retired persons; you are more than welcome to this proposed acceleration. We have virtual training and we can certainly do what we can with more people.”

The committee reported that The Bahamas has been informed by the Pan-American Health Organisation that it will receive the second tranche of AstraZeneca vaccines through the COVAX Facility before the end of May. This tranche, the committee said, will consist of 33,000 doses, with a remaining 34,200 doses to be received through the COVAX Facility.

Appointments are available at the Kendal G L Isaacs National Gymnasium, Loyola Hall, Pilgrim Baptist Church, Church of God of Prophecy and St Anselm’s Church, starting Thursday. Most sites are open at 9am to 3pm. The Kendal G L Isaacs Gym site is open from 2pm to 6pm. This week, more than 4,000 appointments will be offered to the public via the vax.gov.bs portal.

Vaccinations will be administered in Family Islands beginning Monday.