National vaccine committee to hold press conference on rollout at 3pm tomorrow
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Following a temporary pause over the weekend, COVID-19 vaccinations on New Providence are resuming this week with two additional centers, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) announced yesterday.
“Two new community COVID-19 vaccination sites have been added to service more walk-up appointments and increase access to the vaccine, the National COVID-19 Vaccine Consultative Committee has announced,” read an OPM statement.
“The new sites are located at the Pilgrim Baptist Church on Kemp Rd and St Anselm’s Roman Catholic Church, Bernard Road.”
The statement specified that from Monday, April 19, to Friday, April 23, vaccinations will be administered at Kendal G L Isaacs Gymnasium; Church of God of Prophecy, East Street; and the Susan J Wallace Community Center, Freeport, Grand Bahama.
Vaccines will be administered at Pilgrim Baptist Church, St James Road, from Monday to Wednesday; at Loyola Hall, Gladstone Road, from Wednesday to Friday; at St Anselm’s Church, Bernard Road, on Thursday, Friday and the following Monday, April 26; and at the Stapledon School on Monday, April 19, exclusively for individuals with disabilities and their caregivers, who must accompany the person they are caring for.
The statement also noted that vaccines will be administered from Monday, April 26, to Friday, April 30, at: Church of God of Prophecy, East Street; Kendal G L Isaacs Gymnasium; and the Susan J Wallace Community Center on Grand Bahama.
The temporary pause in vaccinations had caused some controversy, with some sectors of society speculating it was over safety concerns in light of the US Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) and Food & Drug Administration (FDA) recommended countries pause use of the Johnson & Johnson Janssen vaccine.
The vaccine was found to be linked to six cases of blood clots out of more than six million doses administered.
Thus far, The Bahamas has been administering Oxford AstraZeneca vaccines, of which it had received 33,600 through the COVAX Facility and 20,000 from the government of India.
Several countries have suspended use of AstraZeneca over blood clot concerns as the issue is investigated.
However, local health officials have maintained its safety and insisted the pause was not due to safety concerns but rather to reevaluate the country’s rollout strategy, with Nurse Ruth Bastian saying during a Ministry of Health live Q&A last week that the government wants to ensure Family Islands are provided for.
Yesterday’s OPM statement noted: “The Consultative Committee will hold a press conference on Tuesday, April 20, at 3pm to provide a full update on the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine and the rollout on the Family Islands.”
Vaccine registration appointments are available online at https://vax.gov.bs, or at the following walk-up sites for those without access to the Internet: Church of God of Prophecy; Pilgrim Baptist Church and St Anselm’s Church.
Homebound, physically-disabled residents can also be registered with the COVID-19 Vaccine Mobile Unit by calling 511 or emailing deborahfox@bahamas.gov.bs.
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