US urged: ‘Make us next in line’ on COVID vaccines

By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A Cabinet minister yesterday voiced hope that The Bahamas will be “next in line” to receive a distribution of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from “overflowing” US stockpiles.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, minister of tourism and aviation, while declining to comment on whether this nation’s vaccination roll-out is proceeding rapidly enough to aid tourism’s revival, told Tribune Business he hoped The Bahamas’ proximity will make it the prime candidate to be the next beneficiary of US generosity.

With stockpiles of the AstraZeneca vaccine accumulating, and its emergency use yet to be authorised in the US, the Biden administration was reported to have agreed to make 2.5m doses available to Canada and give 1.5m to Mexico as it is currently unable to use them on Americans.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is the current version being employed in The Bahamas, and Mr D’Aguilar said: “I will say that the US has, according to press reports, about 30m AstraZeneca doses in-country.

“They made some distribution of the stock of AstraZeneca to Canada and Mexico as they don’t have emergency use authorisation for that yet, and don’t expect that to happen until May at the earliest. Yet they are awash in Pfizer, Moderna and J&J. 

“One hopes that given our proximity we can be the recipient of some of that largesse they’ve given to Canada and Mexico. First of all, we are the closest of their remaining neighbours out there, and a large percentage of what is spent in The Bahamas ends back up in the US,” he added.

“One hopes they see fit to make available some of their supply.... They’ve done it with Mexico and Canada, and hopefully we’re next in line.” The New York Times reported on March 18 that “tens of millions of doses of the [AstraZeneca] vaccine have been sitting in American manufacturing sites”.

However, the Biden administration said the shipments to Mexico and Canada would effectively be a loan, with the US receiving doses of AstraZeneca, or other vaccines, in the future - something that The Bahamas would find hard to reciprocate.

However, The Bahamas’ vaccine needs pale in comparison to the size of Canada and Mexico given this country’s 400,000-strong population. The first 20,000 vaccine shots received by this nation were supplied by India, and it is still awaiting to receive some 33,600 doses - out of 100,000 ordered - of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the Pan Health Organisation’s (PAHO) COVAX facility.

Those 120,000 total shots, though, are still way short of the likely 280,000 needed for The Bahamas to meet the so-called “herd immunity” threshold of having 70-80 percent of its population vaccinated against COVID-19.

Mr D’Aguilar spoke out after Kerry Fountain, the Out Islands Promotion Board’s executive director, last week urged The Bahamas to “step up its game” on the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out over fears its Caribbean rivals are outpacing it.

Kerry Fountain, the Out Islands Promotion Board’s executive director, told Tribune Business he had just attended a Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) meeting where it was revealed that more than 60 percent of hotel workers in Turks & Caicos have already been vaccinated against the virus.

Some 30 percent of the total population in The Bahamas’ immediate southern neighbour have also been inoculated against COVID-19, while Barbados media reported five days ago that more than 60,000 persons - over 20 percent of its population - have also received their jabs.

Calling for “all hands on deck” over the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, Mr Fountain told this newspaper: “What remains a challenge for us, and not just in the Family Islands but throughout the island of The Bahamas, is acceptance of the vaccine and then the distribution of the vaccine.

“When I say challenges with the vaccine, it’s not just putting it in folks’ arms, but encouraging people to want to take the vaccine. I was on a BHTA call today, and Stacy Cox from the Turks & Caicos Islands reported that 60 percent of their hotel workers received the vaccine and 30 percent of the population received the vaccine.

“Those are big numbers, even though their population is much smaller. Sixty percent is 60 percent and 30 percent-plus is 30 percent. We received our first vaccines about two weeks’ ago, some 20,000 shots, but up to this weekend only 1,500 persons had received them,” Mr Fountain continued.

“That number will have changed but you’d think that if we get 20,000 vaccines in The Bahamas two to three weeks’ ago all would be gone by now. We have a challenge convincing Bahamians of qualifying age to take the vaccine and we need to step up our efforts in that regard.”

Mr D’Aguilar said Caribbean dependencies of the US and UK, like Turks & Caicos, had been able to rely on their parent nation to receive supplies of COVID-19 vaccines. The Bahamas, as an independent nation, has no such support.

Pointing to the advantages enjoyed by the likes of the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Cayman Islands and Bermuda, he added: “They are clearly having more success in securing a supply of vaccines than we are because they are benefiting from their association with their colonial power.

“We threw off the chains of colonialism in 1973 with a decision that has been enormously advantageous to us, but in this particular instance in securing or being the recipient of vaccines from a mother country we don’t have that connection any more. All those territories are awash in vaccines to their benefit, and they are enjoying it.”

However, Barbados, which is independent, has managed to vaccinate 60,000 persons or 20 percent of its population. Meanwhile, the National COVID-19 Consultative Committee last night said The Bahamas will receive the 33,600 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine through the COVAX facility this week.

“Since the COVID-19 vaccination programme began on March 14, 2021, more than 7,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered on New Providence and Grand Bahama,” the committee said. “The highest number of COVID-19 vaccinations administered on a single day totalled more than 1,000.”

Comments

dwanderer says...

Turks and Caicos and other Caribbean dependencies of the US and UK are far ahead of the Bahamas with vaccinations. That's understandable since they benefited from their parent nations. So comparisons with them are mute.

However, when it comes to Barbados, we can compare apples to apples. India gifted Barbados 100,000 doses of vaccines, the Bahamas received 20,000 doses from India. Barbados has vaccinated over 60,000 persons, approximately 7,000 persons have been vaccinated in the Bahamas to date.

By the end of April, with all interested citizenry vaccinated, Barbados hopes to be able to offer vaccines to its visitors. By the end of April, the Bahamas hopes to have received its first allotment of 33,600 out of the 100,000 doses ordered through COVAX. The comparisons speak for themselves.

Posted 29 March 2021, 3:08 p.m. Suggest removal

moncurcool says...

The comparison still is apples with oranges, when you compare 100,000 to 20,000. Obviously if you have 80,000 more you will be able to vaccinate more than someone who only has 20,000.

How we get out of the predicament is anyone's guess.

Posted 29 March 2021, 3:23 p.m. Suggest removal

dwanderer says...

The apples to apples referred to the fact that both Barbados and the Bahamas are independent countries, so on equal footing. However, whereas Barbados acted quickly to procure vaccines, the Bahamas is still wanting and waiting. It would seem that someone dropped the ball. As you correctly stated, "how we get out of the predicament is anyone's guess".

Posted 29 March 2021, 4:52 p.m. Suggest removal

tribanon says...

CBC News reported just this afternoon that Provinces in Canada, acting on advice from Health Canada officials, have halted use of all AstaZeneca vaccines pending additional studies, information and investigations about their safety. See my repost below.

Posted 29 March 2021, 5:34 p.m. Suggest removal

newcitizen says...

No they haven't. They recommended to the provinces to only use AZ for vaccinations of those over 55 until they can study the risk of rare blood clots in younger people.

Posted 29 March 2021, 10:08 p.m. Suggest removal

FreeUs242 says...

They really want it👍💉

Posted 30 March 2021, 1:22 a.m. Suggest removal

tribanon says...

***Repost from earlier this afternoon:***

Provinces in Canada have just halted the use of the AstraZeneca vaccines.

According to CBC News reports this afternoon, Health Canada — which approved the AstraZeneca-Oxford COVAX vaccine for use in Canada in February — said its regulators would be adding "additional terms and conditions on the authorizations" for AstraZeneca ***and a biologically identical version of the drug manufactured by the Serum Institute of India, which has been branded Covishield.***

Health Canada will now require the manufacturers of these AstraZeneca vaccines to conduct a "detailed assessment of the benefits and risks of the vaccine by age and sex in the Canadian context," information that could lead to "additional regulatory actions.

The press release in Canada said: "The additional information requested from the manufacturers of the AstraZeneca vaccines will be used to support the ongoing evaluation of blood clotting events, and allow Health Canada to determine if there are specific groups of people who may be at higher risk."

Apparently Health Canada has concerns about younger people under the age of 55 developing a rare type of potentially deadly blood clot. Individuals around the age of 35 may be at greatest risk, especially women.

Meanwhile, the US Food & Drug Administration still has not approved the AstraZeneca vaccines for emergency use in the US. But the Communist China controlled W.H.O. and its affiliated P.A.H.O. nevertheless continue to maintain the AstraZeneca vaccines are safe for everyone and that seems good enough for our own health officials here in the Bahamas.

Posted 29 March 2021, 5:39 p.m. Suggest removal

Bobsyeruncle says...

You're obviously extremely excited about this news, given that you have made the same post at least 4 times today. I hope you do the same when the they resume.

Posted 29 March 2021, 5:54 p.m. Suggest removal

tribanon says...

You're obviously extremely upset that I've shared the Canada Health info about the AstraZeneca vaccines with the readers of comments posted to this website. I will leave it for you to continue putting your good seal of approval on the AstraZeneca vaccines recommended for our nation by the Communist China controlled W.H.O. and its affiliate, the P.A.H.O.

Posted 30 March 2021, 11:15 a.m. Suggest removal

themessenger says...

@bob, can’t get anywhere with that one, he’s a regular consumer of John’s genetically modified edibles and an advocate of the use of bleach.

Posted 30 March 2021, 7:37 a.m. Suggest removal

tribanon says...

LOL

Posted 30 March 2021, 10:42 a.m. Suggest removal

bahamianson says...

WELL, LETS LOOK AT THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE ON AVERAGE whom vote during the election. we have about 175,000 [ just a guess], whom voted in the last election. if we look at that, we will have a considerable less amount whom will take the vaccine. we may have 40,000-50,000 , at the end of the day, whom take the vaccine. we will never reach herd immunity.

Posted 30 March 2021, 12:24 p.m. Suggest removal

FreeUs242 says...

The US doesn't want it😂

Posted 30 March 2021, 1:09 p.m. Suggest removal

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