NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Health and Wellness Minister Dr Michael Darville said yesterday that the country is at its “plateau” with regards to COVID-19 vaccinations, adding that the government is “pushing hard” to reach its 70 percent vaccination goal.
Darville was speaking at the release of a report on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on The Bahamas.
He said: “We are right now at our plateau and pushing very hard so that we can get over the hump and reach the target of having 70 percent of Bahamians vaccinated throughout the country.”
A COVID-19 vaccination tracker released in late June indicated that 168,257 persons have been fully vaccinated -inclusive of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and that 158,024 persons have received one dose excluding the J&J vaccine.
Darville who recounted his personal experience with COVID-19, having survived the early stages of the Delta variant noted that the third wave of the pandemic in The Bahamas was the longest and exacted the highest human cost.
“For the Bahamas the third wave had the longest duration and goes on record as having up to about 42 percent of the patient caseload in the hospital and having had the highest human cost with a mortality rate of 138.4 per 100,000 persons.
“In the last week of August 2021, there were 42 COVID-19-related deaths recorded. That’s how serious the Delta variant was in our country. What compounded it was our high incidents of diabetes and obesity. We lost a lot of people as a direct result of the Delta variant,” said Darville.
He noted that COVID-19-related hospitalizations during the pandemic compounded deficiencies at the country’s health care facilities.
“Our hospitals have been in a serious state for a long period of time. Despite our ability to direct resources into them they were filled with multiple holes and COVID-19 made those holes into craters,” said Darville.
According to Darville, the national response to COVID-19 cost the Ministry of Health around $120 million.
“Our records show that the direct cost to the PHA was $88.6 million and the Ministry of Health just over $31.5 million. When I came into office I found about $50 million in unbudgeted debt at the Ministry of Health and Wellness.”
Darville further lamented the challenges in retaining nurses in the country, noting that they were being recruited to the United States and Canada for twice the salaries being offered locally.
