“You don’t have a while with this; you don’t have a while…”
Public education and vaccination campaign to be expanded on islands “at risk”
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Consultant Physicians Staff Association (CPSA) President Dr Sabriquet Pinder-Butler yesterday encouraged Family Island residents to take urgent steps to protect themselves and their families against the coronavirus.
She noted that more people will die if residents continue to delay care and rely on natural remedies upon infection, and fail to get vaccinated.
A number of Family Islands, including far-flung ones such as Inagua, have recorded surges in infections and deaths in recent weeks.
“A lot of persons on the island decide to just pray and allow for the Lord to take care of them, and when it is their time, they will just go,” Pinder-Butler said.
“That’s why I think they’re also dying in pairs, because the one is taking care of the next one.
“Even going to the clinics — I can tell you growing up on the Family Islands and still knowing people who are there intimately, I know what happens — before they go to the nurse or something, they will be home with that, doing their own concoctions for a while.
“You don’t have a while with this. You don’t have a while…
“A lot of them don’t want to go to the doctors and they do not go, and they will stay home.
“This is not a new phenomenon. The thing about it is it’s just perhaps a different profile of people with different challenges, because I know people.”
A nationwide free-testing regime is in the works, though the government has yet to outline a specific timeline.
The free testing will begin as a pilot program in the Family Islands “currently most at risk for community spread” of the virus, according to the Ministry of Health.
“The goal of testing as many residents of these islands as possible is to let individuals know their status so they can act accordingly and to give health authorities the information they need to create targeted and effective policies,” the ministry said.
The ministry also advised that it will identify resources to assist with surveillance and enforcement of health protocols, and expand both public education and vaccination campaigns on the islands.
Minister of Health Dr Michael Darville and medical teams are expected to continue to visit the Family Islands with “identified clusters” to further assess conditions and meet with local professionals and residents about the way forward.
Pinder-Butler said there is anecdotal evidence that the delta variant has reached the Family Islands, but she also believes campaigning in the lead-up to the general election, and the consequent increased travel to those islands, could be linked to the increase in cases.
