By FARRAH JOHNSON

Tribune Staff Reporter

fjohnson@tribunemedia.net

AN unvaccinated physician has died of COVID-19 complications, while three unvaccinated healthcare workers are currently hospitalised with the virus, according to Dr Merceline Dahl-Regis, the National COVID-19 Vaccine Consultative Committee chairperson.

Dr Dahl-Regis shared the unfortunate news at the committee’s press conference yesterday, after revealing the nation is experiencing a “significant increase” in new cases and in the number of COVID related hospitalisations and deaths, amid “increased travel to and from” the country.

In view of this, she urged the public to take the jab, noting there were no deaths recorded among fully vaccinated people between the start of the Ministry of Health’s vaccination programme and the end of July.

“We know that vaccines save lives,” she said. “According to data collected by Dr Nikkiah Forbes and her team at the Princess Margaret Hospital, between March 14...and July 31, 411 patients were hospitalised with COVID-19. Of that number, 400 were unvaccinated and 11 were partially vaccinated.

“No fully vaccinated persons were admitted to PMH for care during that period. That same period, 53 COVID-19 deaths were recorded—and we know this is an underestimate—but 52 were unvaccinated and one was partially vaccinated. There were no deaths recorded among fully vaccinated persons during that time.”

Dr Dahl-Regis said the country’s healthcare system is currently overwhelmed, with the morgue at PMH at full capacity. She also noted that the nation recorded 158 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 on Friday, August 13.

The death toll officially rose to 313 on Friday after a 50-year-old New Providence woman died on August 7.

On August 14, 107 cases were recorded bringing the toll to 16,537. Officials said three additional deaths are under investigation, bringing this figure to 42.

Last Friday, there were 142 COVID-19 patients at PMH and on Saturday that figure fell slightly to 134. Thirteen cases are in the intensive care unit.

Dr Dahl-Regis urged healthcare workers to get vaccinated. Chief Medical Officer Dr Pearl McMillan said at yesterday’s press conference that only about 50 percent of the country’s healthcare workers are vaccinated, which is cause for concern.

“Today is a sad day,” Dr Dahl-Regis said yesterday. “We have three unvaccinated healthcare workers – two physicians and a nurse – who are currently hospitalised with COVID-19. Prior to coming here, I was informed of the death of an unvaccinated physician who died of COVID-19. I wish to express my condolences to the physician’s family. And I say to my professional health colleagues, in our profession, we practice according to the science of medicine.

“We know now that there is no scientific merit to claims that the vaccine is unsafe. It is the responsible role of health professionals to become vaccinated and not to put themselves in jeopardy nor infect their families and loved ones. I implore all to take the COVID-19 vaccine.”

Dr Dahl-Regis said a recent finding also revealed that a newborn baby tested positive for the virus, marking the second reported case of a newborn infant contracting the disease.

She said while some have voiced questions about the fast-paced development of the vaccine, with fears about the risk of blood clots, harm to a person’s DNA and interference with fertility, all of those concerns have been “put to rest by” scientific reports.

She added that she wanted to assure the public that there was no evidence to support such concerns since recent global recommendations actually supported the vaccination of pregnant women and those who planned to become pregnant.

Dr Dahl-Regis said genomic surveillance has identified samples with a predominance of the Alpha variant co-circulating with others in the country. She said health officials are currently awaiting the results from 100 samples that were recently sent to the FIO CRUZ research laboratory in Brazil.

She said health officials expect to receive the results by the end of the week, at which time they will be able to confirm if other variants, such as the Delta COVID-19 strain, are in the country.

Dr Dahl-Regis insisted the “best way” for everyone to protect themselves and prevent more surges from happening in the future is to get vaccinated and follow established protocols.

“It is important that everyone – the vaccinated and the unvaccinated – continue to follow these protocols,” she said. “When you leave your house, wear your mask indoors and outdoors and make sure it properly covers your nose and your mouth. Continue to wash your hands thoroughly and frequently. Keep a distance of six feet from others when you can. “Avoid large gatherings. Do not gather in large groups. I cannot stress this enough. Do not gather in large groups. We want our children to safely return to school and have in-person learning. In order to do that, we must practice, individually and collectively, all of the protocols. And we must take full advantage of the opportunity to be vaccinated as quickly as possible.”

According to the committee’s latest vaccine tracker chart, a total of 117,380 vaccines have been administered to date. Of that number 68,323 have received one dose of the vaccine, while 51,150 people are fully vaccinated.

Yesterday, Dr Nikkiah Forbes, the country’s top infectious disease expert, said the country still has some ways to go before it can achieve herd immunity.

She said it is very important that the country has a high vaccination coverage, because emerging evidence proves that being vaccinated “will be very effective” in preventing COVID-19 infections.

“Experts’ consensus is that we need between 70-85 percent of a population (to be) immune for herd immunity,” she said. “And so, if we have a population of about 400,000 and we have fully vaccinated about 56,000 persons, you’ll see that we still have some ways to go as it relates to this target of having 85 percent of the population immunised.”