Bahamas engaged in ‘vaccine exchange’ with Antigua and Barbuda

The Bahamas has engaged in a vaccine exchange with Antigua and Barbuda for 5,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said.

He said the doses have already been collected.

“We will continue to administer the vaccine for as long as we can until we receive additional supplies,” Minnis said on Friday.

“We have also received an offer, through the CARICOM health agency (CARPHA), from the United States for additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines. The vaccines are the way to end this terrible pandemic. This process is underway but we have not yet received a specific timeline for delivery.”

He said The Bahamas will also receive its third tranche of 33,600 doses of AstraZeneca, through the COVAX Facility, on July 26.

Minnis said vaccines are the best way to ensure the limitation of future COVID outbreaks.

“They are the way to ensure more visitors come to our shores in order to fully revive our economy,” he said.

“Tourists will increasingly want to visit places that have highly vaccinated populations in order to ensure their safety and that of their children.”

The Bahamas has received 87,200 doses of AstraZeneca — 20,000 of those doses were donated by the Indian government and the remaining were secured through the COVAX Facility.

The National COVID-19 Vaccine Consultative Committee said vaccines will only be administered at Loyola Hall on New Providence and at the Susan J. Wallace Community Centre on Grand Bahama, from Monday, July 5 to Wednesday, July 7.

“Vaccinations will pause on Thursday, July 8, for the Independence holiday and resume the following week, starting Wednesday, July 14, 2021,” it said.

As of July 3, nearly 96,000 doses of the vaccine have been administered in The Bahamas.

More than 2,200 first doses and 1,300 second doses have been administered on Eleuthera.

On Friday, Minnis congratulated residents of Harbour Island and Eleuthera who came out in “large numbers” to take the vaccine during the recent rollout on the Family Islands.

“We are very pleased with the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine across the Family Islands,” he said.

“It exceeded our expectations.”

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