McMillan: Let us act as though the delta COVID variant is here
NASSAU, BAHAMAS — As new data emerges that the delta variant is “highly transmissible” even among vaccinated individuals, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Pearl McMillan urged those who have been fully vaccinated to keep up with public health measures and wearing masks.
Asked whether health officials were concerned vaccinated people may also be spreading the virus locally, McMillan said: “I think that’s a possibility in that the way the virus is being spread, particularly with the delta variant, there is a concern that the vaccinated can potentially still spread it.
“That’s why we continue to make the recommendation to keep your mask on.
“And you would see they’re (the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) moving towards saying wearing your mask even after you’re vaccinated is the best way to go.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently revised its mask guidance, urging even vaccinated individuals to wear masks indoors in states where the virus was surging.
A study by researchers at Imperial College London confirmed transmissibility is still possible among the vaccinated, but noted people who have received both doses of a two-dose COVID-19 vaccine were three times less likely to be infected with the delta variant than those who have not been vaccinated.
McMillan said: “This thing continues to evolve and as it evolves, we have to be mindful that, certainly, of public health measures that we carry out — mask-wearing, sanitization, all of those things — must continue as we move toward getting vaccines, and also increasing our capacity to get people to take the vaccine.
“You don’t just drop one because you have the other.
“I think that’s the bottom line. We have to be vigilant if we’re going to able to continue this long haul.
“It is not a sprint. COVID is with us and the better we protect ourselves individually and collectively, the better we will get through this whole cycling, and right now, we are in problems with our capacity.
“So, I urge people — we’re getting additional vaccines — get vaccinated.
“Please, do not drop all of your public health measures that we have been saying that you should continue to carry out.”
Variants
The CMO said additional samples continue to be sent abroad to test for the delta variant in The Bahamas.
The Bahamas is expected to acquire sequencing equipment to test its own samples for variants of the virus, but no timeline or cost has been provided to date.
“As we would have alluded in the press conference, our sequencing process, because we have to send it out of country, is delayed,” McMillan said.
“We get results way after. We know what would have happened in the past, but based on what we are seeing, we believe the delta variant could be here.
“So, let us act as if it is. Err on the side of caution. The likelihood that it is circulating is high, so let us not act as if isn’t.”
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