Govt having ‘fruitful’ conversations with other countries on securing additional vaccines

The government is having “very fruitful” conversations with other countries about securing additional COVID-19 vaccines for The Bahamas, Minister of Health Renward Wells said on Wednesday.

“There are conversations that have taken place between The Bahamas and the United States on a consistent basis in regards to vaccines with the local US representative here at the embassy,” Wells told reporters outside the House of Assembly.

“Obviously, we would’ve spoken to a number of senators inside the United States as well – government to government. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the minister of foreign affairs has been very, very aggressive in speaking to not just the United States but other countries as well in regards to how he can help the country in procuring vaccines.”

When asked how those conversations were going, he replied, “Very fruitful.” 

The Bahamas has received 87,200 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine – 20,000 of which were donated by the Indian government in March.

The remaining doses were secured through the COVAX Facility.

The Pan American Health Organization said The Bahamas should receive another 33,600 doses, through COVAX, by early June. By then, the country would have received 120,800 doses, enough to fully vaccinate 60,400 people.

It was previously announced that Canada and Mexico would receive millions of doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the US.

Last month, the White House announced that the US will also share 60 million doses of the vaccine with other countries.

It has not yet indicated which countries will benefit from this initiative. 

On Friday, US Senator Rick Scott wrote to US President Joe Biden and called for the United States to consider providing vaccines to The Bahamas.

Members of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations also wrote to Biden encouraging him to do the same.

On Wednesday, Wells said the letters speak to the efforts by the government to secure additional vaccines.

He described the initiative by the senators as “a welcomed development”. 

“… We would thank the United States senators who would’ve done so for and on the behalf of countries, such as The Bahamas, and so we would eagerly await the results of their lobbying on behalf of countries in the region,” he said.

In his letter to the president, Scott noted that The Bahamas is “an important economic hub” for Florida and the United States.

“Its economy relies on the important tourism industry,” he wrote.

“I worked to connect the Bahamian government with your administration to help facilitate their vaccination program but, to my knowledge, nothing has been done.”

Minister of Foreign Affairs Darren Henfield said the senators recognize the inextricable link between The Bahamas and the economy of South Florida.

“I think it’s safe to say upwards of 60 percent of what we earn annually in tourism is spent, quite frankly, in South Florida,” he told The Nassau Guardian.

“From that point of view, I can see the importance they place not only on the humanitarian aspects of delivering the vaccines to Bahamians but also on keeping the economy in South Florida as buoyant as Bahamians help to keep it every year and I think we appreciate it here in The Bahamas as well.” 

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source https://thenassauguardian.com/govt-having-fruitful-conversations-with-other-countries-on-securing-additional-vaccines/