What's the logic of forcing ONLY the unvaccinated to take and pay for their covid tests? The vaccinated can also catch and transmit the virus. We are even testing persons who travel into the country, vaccinated and unvaccinated. The logic of employers who do this escapes me....

One thing I can agree with is the issue with all the signage. It looks horrible. What's the point? It won't change anyone's vote and will become litter. You mean to tell me that NONE of the FNM or PLP candidates can see that all that signage is unnecessary?

I think the government is doing the right thing by not imposing any more lockdowns. They would only hurt the economy and provide temporary relief, if any, to the country. However, they need to enforce more local testing at ALL gatherings. Of particular note are restaurants and other establishments with dining. These are natural locations for masks to come off and the virus to spread. Currently these establishments DO NOT require testing for vaccinated persons which is utter nonsense. This is but one example. However, I also agree that the future of the Bahamas is at the hands of the people. Follow protocols. I am super tired of encountering persons, especially vaccinated persons, in public who feel as if they don't need to wear there mask around you, and want to come and talk right up in ya face. Keep your distance and wear your masks please. The mask only makes sense if everyone is wearing it....

A Restaurant is probably the LAST thing you should invest in during this pandemic... or at lest anything that relies more on indoor dining....

The crux of the matter is, the current vaccines will not end the pandemic. They are a stop-gap measure to helping to prevent severe disease and hospitalization, that is it. So while I support vaccinations, I do not think that they should be mandatory, and we should not demonize and vilify persons who do not wish to take them. We need to emphasize more mandatory testing, not only for travelers, but also locally for any type of large gathering including in-person dining. Currently, restaurants do not test "fully vaccinated" persons who want to dine inside. Lastly, we should entertain experimental medications that other countries have used to keep decrease hospitalizations such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. The "vaccine or nothing" attitude is what is killing this and many other countries.

I don't know what the FNMs strategy is, not that i care, but the vaccines are a positive thing. Even the article you linked still says that "if you are infected, being vaccinated helps". They aren't the perfect solution but they will help to keep persons out of the hospitals. Sure, booster shots are a given at this point, but persons are already used to annual flu booster shots. Either way, the booster only seems to be benefitting the over 60 crowd. The younger crowd still has great protection even though efficacy has diminished. It also says this in the article.

This is good news. The more choices the better.

So one one hand they say that vaccinations should mean "fewer mutations emerging" and on the other hand, the current "immune escape" variants have a "leg up".

"On the other hand, any immune escape variant now has a huge advantage over other variants.

In fact, the world is probably at a tipping point, Holmes says: With more than 2 billion people having received at least one vaccine dose and hundreds of millions more having recovered from COVID-19, variants that evade immunity may now have a bigger leg up than those that are more infectious. "

Thanks, this was actually an interesting read. I actually get the impression from this article that the virus will try evolve to evade natural and vaccinated immunity. However this is a quotation from the "Predicting the future" section.

"Although it’s impossible to predict exactly how infectiousness, virulence, and immune evasion will develop in the coming months, some of the factors that will influence the virus’ trajectory are clear.

One is the immunity that is now rapidly building in the human population. On one hand, immunity reduces the likelihood of people getting infected, and may hamper viral replication even when they are. “That means there will be fewer mutations emerging if we vaccinate more people,” Çevik says."