The heads of the three major healthcare unions in the country said yesterday that they have received no information from the government on how the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine will take place when it arrives in The Bahamas today.
Consultant Physicians Staff Association (CPSA) President Dr. Sabriquet Pinder-Butler said the lack of communication is “disappointing and disrespectful”.
Bahamas Nurses Union (BNU) President Amancha Williams said her union discovered the government’s plans the same time the rest of the country did.
Bahamas Doctors Union (BDU) President Dr. Melisande Bassett said she too has heard nothing from the government on the rollout of the vaccine.
A batch of 20,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, a donation from the government of India, is set to arrive in The Bahamas today at noon.
The CPSA has roughly 120 members; the BDU has 432, and the BNU has 2,000.
On Sunday, Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis said healthcare workers will be among the first group of people to receive the vaccine.
He said, “It is expected that healthcare workers may begin booking their vaccination appointments online within days of the arrival of the vaccine.
“Details on how the appointment process will work will be published within the next few days.”
But Pinder-Butler said that has not happened, nor has Minnis’ promise to keep the unions informed.
“Nothing has changed, unfortunately, nothing,” Pinder-Butler said.
She added, “We’re disappointed and it’s disrespectful because we’re professionals and this lends to us still having a dysfunctional system, which shouldn’t happen when you’re dealing with professional people who should be able to communicate.”
Pinder-Butler said communication between the CPSA and the Ministry of Health is the worst it has been since she was involved with the union.
“It’s all about communication, and for some reason, I think more than ever, because I would have been in this system for many years, I think this has been one of the worst times that we’ve had as it relates to proper communication and engagement.
“It’s just unbelievable. And so, because we are healthcare professionals…you still want what is best for yourself, your healthcare team and the Bahamian public. You still try to make the best of a bad situation. But it is bad. That’s just the bottom line.”
On Sunday, Minnis also noted that 33,600 of the 100,800 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine that The Bahamas secured through the COVAX Facility will arrive in the country by the end of the month.
While Minnis said that rollout of the vaccine will begin days after its arrival, Pinder-Butler raised concerns that registration for the vaccine has not yet begun.
“[People] are listening out for us to give them the advice,” she said.
“Those who are ready to take vaccines are asking, ‘What should we do? Where can we go to sign up?’
“Those things should have already been in place from last year.
“So, it’s just sad that we continue in this country to know that things will be happening or that we should plan for things and we’re not utilizing the professional persons who have the expertise, who at the end of the day will be involved with the process the way that we should do it. And I think that it is poor. It should not happen. And I hope that it stops very soon because it’s not helpful to us as a people.”
Residents and staff of eldercare homes and non-ambulatory residents registered in the public health system are also set to receive the vaccine first, Minnis said.
Williams, head of the nurses union, also said she has no idea how the rollout will work.
“We haven’t had any information on that,” she said.
She continued, “But information and documentation to the union, to keep us abreast of what’s happening and so forth, no, this government does not behave like that.”
During his national address, Minnis said healthcare workers will be vaccinated on-site at their respective institutions.
Residents and staff of eldercare homes and the registered non-ambulatory will not be required to make an appointment, he said.
He said mobile unions will be used to vaccinate residents and staff of eldercare homes.
On the Family Islands, he said medical teams will administer vaccines to healthcare staff on the island and at eldercare homes and to the non-ambulatory.
He said the Ministry of Health and the National COVID-19 Vaccine Consultative Committee developed a distribution plan to “ensure a smooth and seamless rollout of the vaccine”.
The post Healthcare unions in dark on vaccine rollout appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/healthcare-unions-in-dark-on-vaccine-rollout/
No comments:
Post a Comment