THE United States has found itself with a welcome problem – more vaccines than it needs right now.

It has around 60 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine – the same one we are using so far – that it hasn’t made use of so far. US leadership is confident enough in the other three vaccines it has been using and it hadn’t given the full green light to the AstraZeneca vaccine so far – so it’s putting its faith in the others and making the AstraZeneca doses available where it’s needed elsewhere.

Some of the first countries to receive vaccines are the neighbours of the US - starting with Mexico and Canada. Well, hello neighbour.

Up has popped Health Minister Renward Wells to remind the US of our position not far offshore. He might lack a bit of grace in doing so – saying that apart from Mexico and Canada “the only other three countries that sit on its borders are Cuba, Russia and The Bahamas”. The rest of CARICOM has ceased to exist, it would seem.

However, we would hope we are in a good position as a popular destination for US tourists that it would make good sense for the US to extend a helping hand our way. After all, protecting people here will also protect those visitors by giving them a safe, virus-free place to holiday.

We would need to live up to our end of the deal and actually take the vaccine, of course.

And if we need any incentive to do so, we need only look to the nation that was the first in line to help The Bahamas when we needed vaccines.

India provided The Bahamas with its first 20,000 vaccine doses.

At the time, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said: “We are more than happy that India has assisted us.”

From helper to in need of help, India has now experienced such a surge of COVID-19 that it is being overwhelmed. Yesterday, in one day alone, India recorded more than 320,000 new cases of COVID-19.

India’s top health official on Monday urged people to start wearing masks at home to stop the spread of the virus. “It’s time people start wearing masks inside their home as well,” said Dr VK Paul, head of a government committee on medical emergency preparedness. India has also called in the armed forces to help, and countries around the world have promised medical aid, including oxygen supplies, ventilators and protective gear.

We hope that some of the excess vaccine supply from the US will help India too – though to be clear, if every dose of that 60 million was sent, it would only vaccinate around two percent of India’s population. That won’t solve the crisis there alone.

There is a global picture to consider with this virus – and we have to think about stamping it out worldwide as well as locally, to stop hotspots leading to new variants that vaccines might be less effective at stopping.

India’s troubles should be a warning to us here in The Bahamas. If not taken seriously, if we relent for a moment with this virus, it can run out of control and leave us in crisis.

This should be an alert to those who host or attend large gatherings. It should be a reminder of the need to follow the protocols we have adhered to for so long now. And we should take the vaccine to give this virus less of a chance.

If we get a helping hand from the US, we must be grateful. And we must do what we can to help elsewhere in turn. It’s the right thing to do.