By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Bahamas Christian Council’s COVID Vaccine Investigative Committee hopes to complete its report on the issue of coronavirus vaccines by early next month.

Committee officials had initially planned to submit the report ahead of the vaccine’s arrival, which landed in the country earlier this month.

However, chair of the BCC’s vaccine committee, Pastor Mario Moxey said the group’s work took longer than expected because officials wanted to be as thorough as possible.

He told The Tribune: “The investigation that we did was really more involved than we initially anticipated and because of our desire to be as thorough as we possibly can, it just took us a little longer to obtain the interviews and then to evaluate those interviews, so we anticipate that we should have a report before Good Friday so Thursday, the first of April would be kind of be the time when we know that will have a report done.”

The BCC has not yet taken a definite stance on COVID-19 vaccines.

Pastor Moxey said after the committee completes the report, it will be submitted to the BCC, who will then issue an official statement on the church’s position on COVID-19 vaccines.

BCC President Bishop Delton Fernander will determine whether the report should be released in public domain, Pastor Moxey added.

Asked what all will be included in the report, the Bahamas Harvest Church pastor said the document will address various concerns related to the production of vaccines and its implications for the religious community.

He said committee members have also included a recommendation section on whether the church community should support the use of the jabs or not.

He said: “This (report) is based on all the media circulation, the various allegations regarding the vaccines that impact the Christian faith and so there are certain things that are of interest to us such as any type of modification of the human DNA and aborted fetus that was used in the production of vaccines.

“Those are some of the religious issues that we wanted to look into and so our scope is very, very narrow. It’s not a very broad scope, it’s a very narrow scope and we wanted to be able to respond to those concerns in a very satisfactory way.”

In March, ABC News reported that some COVID-19 vaccine manufacturers used material “derived from human fetal tissue” during the research phase.

However there is no fetal tissue in the AstraZeneca vaccine itself, according to international reports.

On Sunday, the National COVID-19 Vaccine Consultative Committee said more than 1,500 people had received their first shots of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine since the country’s national vaccination programme was launched last Wednesday.

Grand Bahama Health Services vaccinated about 50 people after it rolled out its campaign Sunday.

The nation’s vaccine rollout comes amid concerns that the vaccine may cause blood clots after several European countries suspended use of the drug. However there is no confirmed link between the vaccine and blood clots.

Some nations have since resumed use of the shots after vaccine experts sought to allay fears concerning the drug, insisting it to be safe.

Data released from a new US-based study yesterday also found the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine to be safe and effective.

The report said the vaccine offered 100 percent protection against severe COVID-19 symptoms and keeping people out of hospital and was also 79 percent effective for preventing COVID-19.

Some churches have gone on record, expressing support for use of the drug.

In a statement released earlier this month, Archbishop Patrick Pinder, Catholic archbishop of Nassau, said people should follow the Roman Catholic Church’s position on COVID-19 vaccines that those “who are eligible and able to receive the vaccine should do so willingly”.

The religious leader said taking the vaccine will protect the health of both recipients and individuals who come in contact with them.

Those eligible to take the vaccine in the first phase include healthcare workers, residents and staff of eldercare homes, people age 65 and over and staff of the uniformed branches, etc.

This comes as 14 new cases of COVID-19 were recorded on Sunday, bringing the nation’s total to 8,923.