By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

WITH droves of Haitians showing up in the southern Bahamas, the Pan American Health Organization has revealed that fewer than one percent of that country’s citizens have been inoculated against COVID-19.

Over the past five days, roughly 900 Haitians escaping extreme poverty in their country arrived in the area of Inagua and Ragged Island. Thousands more have found themselves on the border of Mexico and Texas.

On July 7 this year, Haiti saw the assassination of its President, Jovenel Moise. Then on August 14 the southwest portion of Haiti experienced an earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. Two days later, on August 16, the country experienced a direct hit from Tropical Depression Grace.

Newly appointed Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville came under fire over the weekend on social media because while addressing the apprehended Haitians he let them know that serious health precautions had to be taken as they might have had diseases not experienced in The Bahamas.

“We are now in a situation where it is important for us to ensure that the public health situation in The Bahamas is kept,” Dr Darville said.

“You are from Haiti, because of your country and the way how it is, you are exposed to more pathogens than exist in our country. It is important for you to follow the instructions of our healthcare professionals to protect you and to protect us.”

On Monday, Immigration Minister Keith Bell said various tests have been conducted on migrants for the detection of COVID-19 and other diseases but none of the results so far have created any cause for concern.

Addressing the organisation’s weekly webinar on COVID-19, Dr Carissa Etienne, PAHO’s director, not only revealed the low percentage of COVID-19 inoculations in Haiti, but also said PAHO is working diligently with the Haitian government to increase allocations of the vaccine.

“In Haiti, fewer than one percent of people have been protected so far,” Dr Etienne said. “We are on the ground in Haiti helping the country make the most of the vaccines it has on hand and working with the Haitian government and international partner NGOs to plan for additional allocations of vaccine supply in the coming months. Special attention is also focused on uptake of vaccines in the areas affected by the earthquake.

“Looking ahead, we must use all possible strategies to access more doses. Our Revolving Fund is in advanced discussions with vaccine manufacturers to purchase additional COVID vaccines on behalf of our member states, to complement bilateral deals, donations, and doses they are receiving via the COVAX mechanism.”

Inagua residents have spoken to the press about their fears of contracting the deadly COVID-19 virus from the 500 Haitian migrants being held on that island. And, a senior officer in the Royal Bahamas Defence Force feels the government is not acting fast enough.

“I realise the new government is trying to take a more humane approach to all of this,” the officer said. “I commend them for that, sincerely, however, the more the Haitian nationals are kept on our islands, the more exposed our staff is.

“Because of the large amounts arriving on our islands, we need to make their repatriation different from practices in the past and as quick as possible. We can see from international news that keeping them in the same place for long periods not only risks COVID and other diseases, but it also gives them time to organise themselves in terms of violence, etc.

“We have to be very deliberate and quick in our approach to this. We are pretty much outnumbered if something goes down. Another thing is that right now is the time to ask the US to assist us in beefing up our borders. The US is conducting deportations with Haitian migrants. They are not letting them in. We have to follow suit and make it quick.”

PAHO reported the region is showing nearly 1.5 million new COVID infections and more than 26,000 COVID related deaths which is more than any other global region.

Officials in the organisation said in North America, Canada is witnessing a rise in COVID infections and deaths. In the USA, cases have been declining during the last week, however, deaths have been increasing.

More than a billion COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in our region. And 35 percent of people in Latin America and the Caribbean have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.