NASSAU, The Bahamas – The Bahamas received its first tranche of pediatric COVID-19 vaccines, which will be available for children ages 5 to 11, as the country continues it vaccine rollout programme against the virus.

The vaccines, 24,000 Pfizer doses, arrived in country at the Lynden Pindling International Airport onboard British Airways flight from London to Nassau on Saturday, July 23, 2022.

Present for the handover were: the Hon. Dr. Michael Darville, Minister of Health and Wellness, who was accompanied by Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, the Hon. Philip Davis; Dr. Philip Swann, Acting Chief Medical Officer; Nurse Ruth Bastian, Expanded Programme on Immunization Coordinator; Nurse Joyanne Wilson, Expanded Programme on Immunization; Dr. Gina Archer, Chief Pharmacist, Ministry of Health and Wellness; and Dr. Eldonna Boisson, PAHO/WHO Country Representative.

The vaccines, donated from France, were facilitated through the COVAX facility, which continues to supply vaccines to millions around the world. In the region of the Americas, this is supported by the Pan- American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO).

Regarding the global response to COVID-19 by world leaders that “No-one is safe until everyone is safe”, the prime minister said that The Bahamas was very appreciative of the vaccines for children donated by France.

Dr. Darville said that the vaccines would be available for children “eligible and willing” to take it, with consent from parents and or guardians. The rollout will begin at vaccination centres across the country; beginning in New Providence on July 28, 2022.

It is being proposed that the vaccines also be administered at schools, with a “very robust protocol” in place, Dr. Darville said. He added that Doctors Hospital and private clinics would be able to administer shots as well.

The government is happy that the vaccines are in country for children, as schools are about open in September for the Fall Semester.

Dr. Eldonna Boisson, PAHO/WHO Country Representative, congratulated the government for recognizing the need and providing access to these vaccines for children.

“Soon the country’s children will prepare to return to school and it is vital to protect them from the virus,” she said in a statement released.

She too encouraged parents and guardians to register their children at their preferred clinic to receive the COVID-19 vaccines, which will offer a level of protection from the virus.

Vaccination against the COVID-19 virus is not to be confused with the customary immunizations administered to children in the national programme that has been in place for many years before they enter school, the Expanded Programme on Immunization Coordinator explained.

WHILE the month of June saw 927 new COVID-19 cases, Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville says he believes Bahamians have been doing well in adhering to the protocols that remain in place.

“Bahamians have been doing extremely well,” Dr Darville said yesterday. “We’re proud of the way they are executing the protocol, particularly the mask mandate, and on behalf of the Ministry of Health and Wellness we congratulate what The Bahamas has done.

“As far as the cases are concerned, our cases when we look at our weekly cases we’re beginning to see a decrease and that’s good news. The mask mandate must continue because other Caribbean countries took it away and had to put it back

“So, this thing is very flexible and we look at the data and make additional changes if we have to.”

There were also several COVID-19 related deaths reported by the Ministry of Health and Wellness in June.

The latest fatalities were outlined in the July 3, 2022, dashboard.

On June 25th, a 42-year-old female of New Providence died and then on June 28th a 49-year-old female from Abaco passed away from the virus.

The COVID 19 death toll now stands at 820.

Other deaths outlined in previous dashboards were that of a man, 64, of the Berry Islands. He died on June 20.

A 48-year-old man of New Providence also died on June 23.

On June 14, a 50-year-old New Providence man also died.

Last month, former Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis tested positive for the virus.

Dr Darville had previously announced the removal of entry testing for vaccinated people coming into the Bahamas.

More recently on Saturday, 19 new cases of COVID have been recorded.

There were 15 in New Providence, one in Bimini, two in Eleuthera, and one in Andros.

Since the start of the pandemic, there have been 36,101 cases of the coronavirus in The Bahamas.

Fifty-two people are in the hospital being treated for the virus. Of this number 50 of them are considered moderately ill, while two are in the Intensive Care Unit.

HEALTH and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville announced yesterday the government will remove its COVID-19 testing requirement for vaccinated people entering The Bahamas beginning Sunday.

Preceding this announcement, Tourism Minister Chester Cooper revealed the travel health visa will also no longer be needed beginning this coming Sunday.

However, unvaccinated people will still be required to produce a negative test prior to arrival in the country.

Yesterday, Dr Darville said the decision to remove the testing protocols for vaccinated people was science-based and followed recommendations from both local and regional epidemiologists, adding it was also “consistent with US CDC guidelines.”

He also suggested that officials came to the decision after receiving positive feedback from several neighbouring nations on the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Bilateral meetings with regional leaders were very successful and lesson learned proved to be invaluable,” he said during his contribution to the 2022/2023 Budget debate.  “Follow up meetings at the Summit of Americas solidified many plans inclusive of the US CDC’s announcements on the removal of the COVID testing requirement inbound to American citizens as of Monday June, 13 2022.”

“This is good news for our tourism sector and begs the question when will The Bahamas follow suit and revisit the testing and mask mandated currently in place in our country. These questions have been addressed by the EOC in my ministry and I am pleased to report that inclusive of removal of the travel health visa on Sunday, the 19 of June 2022, at 12:01am - effective June 19 2022, at 12:01, the Ministry of Health and Wellness will also remove the testing requirement for all vaccinated persons entering The Bahamas.”

For his part yesterday, Mr Cooper announced travel health visas will no longer be required for international visitors beginning Sunday, something he had previously foreshadowed.

The health visa was implemented under the previous administration in 2020 as a means to validate and keep record of the COVID-19 status of visitors and residents at the pandemic’s height and ensure compliance of other travel requirements.

The travel protocol, however, was eliminated for citizens and residents of The Bahamas back in December by the Davis administration in keeping with their promise to have the protocol removed entirely.

He said the move was being done to ensure the country is able to “get the numbers that we need for our tourism product and economy,” adding officials believed the timing was just right.

However, he also reminded visitors and Bahamian residents that they are still required to produce a negative COVID test no older than three days before entering the country.

“The rules regarding air travel and the changing guidelines have reshaped the airline landscape,” Mr Cooper said during his budget communication in the House of Assembly.

“We have had to adjust. We will continue to do so. Our goal is to encourage more flights in from our key markets so that we can get more people here safely, quickly and affordably, whilst protecting public health.

“Yes, I support the review of travel testing rules. We must reduce the friction as we ramp up for the summer months and, therefore, I am pleased to announce that the Cabinet of The Bahamas has approved the elimination of the travel health visa.

“This is going to take effect at 12:01 on Sunday, just in time for Father’s Day.”

Yesterday, Mr Cooper was asked by the opposition whether officials planned to use an alternative method to collect important travel data that was gleaned from the visa programme.

He replied: “The answer is that we’re not eliminating testing as I’ve indicated before – the ongoing management of COVID, as has been the case before, will continue to be done by the Ministry of Health and Wellness. Contact tracing will continue to be done by the Ministry of Health and Wellness.”

The removal of the travel protocol comes as the nation’s tourism industry continues its rebound from the COVID-19 crisis. It also follows the United States’ decision to remove COVID entry testing for visitors.

Yesterday, Mr Cooper gave an update on tourism arrivals, saying the country’s rebound levels were similar to that of 2019 pre-pandemic records.

“As far as tourism numbers, we are still processing the May data and we hope to have that within the next 10 days,” he said. “ But, I can say that foreign air and sea arrivals to The Bahamas from January to April this year totalled 1.9 million people. Of that number, just over 460,000 visitors were stopover visitors.

“In April alone, we had 586,574 visitors by air and sea. Air and sea arrivals through April year-to-date were up by 950 percent over the same period of 2021.”

The Deputy Prime Minister also revealed a nearly 1,000 per cent increase in arrivals to The Bahamas for the first four months of this year compared to the same period last year.

He continued: “Arrivals are up, occupancy levels and hotels are up. Cruise arrivals up. We are rebounding faster in the Caribbean.”

Notwithstanding these improving figures, he said the government has set an ambitious target to double the number of stopover visitors to The Bahamas in three years.

“It sounds aggressive,” he added, “but simply put, they spend more and to do this and we need more airports, we need more flights, and we need more rooms.”

In this vein, Mr Cooper announced plans to construct new airports on several Family islands, including Exuma, Eleuthera and Cat Island.

“We’re looking out for the Family islands,” the Exuma and Ragged Island MP continued. “We will complete the new airports at Exuma and North Eleuthera. We’re going to build a beautiful new airport at Deadman’s Cay, Long Island. We gone have a new FBO and 5,000 ft runway Black Point, Exuma.

“All of these airports will be facilitated through public private partnerships. The Great Harbour Cay airport will be opening shortly with new opportunities for jobs, and retail opportunities and we have designed the New Bight Airport in Cat Island.

“We will shortly engage interested parties for a PPP and we expect construction to begin in early 2023. Cat Island, I want you to know that your MP is working for you.”

DESPITE a noted drop in vaccine uptake for the past several months, health officials have not thrown away any doses due to being granted shelf life extensions by international regulators.

Ministry of Health and Wellness Vaccine Committee co-chair Dr Gina Archer yesterday told The Tribune the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has advised that vaccines should not be binned unless there is absolute certainty the jabs have expired.

Last month, Dr Danny Davis, co-chair of the National Vaccine Consultative Committee, warned that Pfizer vaccines that were due to expire at the end of this month may have had to be thrown away if vaccine uptake did not increase soon. He added that a batch of vaccines were expected to expire at the end of August.

According to Dr Archer, a batch of Pfizer vaccines will expire this October.

However, she added, this could change as every two to three months new data is released advising that the shelf life of vaccines is being extended. She pointed to an advisory from the CDC “that you should not throw them out unless you’re absolutely certain they have expired”.

Dr Archer said: “No vaccines have been thrown out. The extended expiry dates are constantly being adjusted based on the outcomes of stability studies. Currently the extended shelf lives have moved from six months to nine months.”

Dr Archer went on to note the decline in vaccine uptake compared to the initial introduction.

“Well, let me give it to you this way: There has been a drop off in the uptake of vaccines on the whole - Pfizer and the AstraZeneca. Right now we don’t even have AstraZeneca in country, but we do approximately 1,500 vaccinations a week.”

According to the government’s vaccine tracker, 167,073 people have been fully vaccinated and 156,947 people have received at least one dose of a vaccine as of June 4.

This total includes Bahamians and residents who were fully vaccinated aboard and registered on the vax.gov.bs platform.

The tracker said there were 348,575 vaccines administered.

The tracker indicated total doses administered included extended and booster doses. Extended and booster doses do not contribute to the count of fully vaccinated persons or persons with at least one dose.