Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis speaks on Sunday night.

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis once again urged residents to take the COVID-19 vaccine during a national address on Sunday night.

He said: “Let me again say to those who are still thinking about getting vaccinated: You do not have time to keep thinking about whether or not you will take the vaccine.

“You do not have time to keep researching. You need to come forward now to get the life-saving protection that vaccination gives! My administration knows that the only way out of the emergency phase of the pandemic is to vaccinate as many Bahamians as possible in as short a time as possible.

“That is why we have launched the largest vaccination programme in Bahamian history. The Bahamas has secured more than half a million doses of some of the best vaccines in the world. Supplies of the AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are already in country. More of the Pfizer vaccines are on the way.”

Dr Minnis noted that 129,017 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered since the start of the national campaign in mid-March, with a total of 55,291 fully vaccinated Bahamians and residents as of August 21.

In a sign that vaccine hesitancy has declined somewhat in the country, Dr Minnis said 11,496 doses were administered from Monday, August 16, to Saturday, August 21, most of which were first doses.

“These are significant and very good numbers,” he said. “We are making progress though we have still much work to do.”

Dr Minnis said initially, the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be used in the next phase of vaccinations in the Family Islands for residents who have not yet received a vaccine and want one.

Thirty-eight thousand four hundred doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine arrived in the country last week.

“The Johnson & Johnson vaccine will also be used to vaccinate homebound residents who have not yet received the vaccine and who wish to do so. For the homebound who have already received the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine, they will receive a second dose of AstraZeneca,” Dr Minnis said.

He added that administration of vaccines on Grand Bahama will be ramped up this week.

“Doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have already been sent to San Salvador. Vaccination teams will be returning to the Family Islands, starting with mainland Abaco on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week.”

Dr Minis said little about the state of the country’s major hospitals, which are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.

However, he said the supply of oxygen has had a boost.

“A critical element in the fight against COVID-19 is oxygen supply,” he said. “Access to liquefied oxygen internationally began to be restricted again, which in turn reduced the storage in country. Working with the Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis, and with the director of Florida's Emergency Management Agency, I am pleased to advise that we have been able to secure the necessary oxygen supply. I am advised that 3,000 gallons of oxygen were delivered at the end of last week in Grand Bahama and 2,500 gallons on New Providence.

“Today, Princess Margaret Hospital has approximately 7,500 gallons of liquid oxygen. Bahamas Welding & Fire also presently has 2,500 gallons of liquid oxygen to supply to the clinics and the South Beach Clinic. Additional supplies are already in the delivery pipeline to restore normal supplies. Next week, and each week thereafter, 12,000 gallons of liquid oxygen are expected to arrive in country, providing the supply needed.”

Dr Minnis also said the government will partner with private health care providers to maximise the administration of the COVID-19 vaccine, in an effort to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible.

He said private health care providers who can demonstrate that they have the infrastructure and human resources, who can meet the criteria to safely administer the vaccine and collect the data appropriately, will be able to administer government-procured vaccines.

Dr Minnis also encouraged private sector businesses to allow employees “a designated period of time on a given day of mutual agreement” to get vaccinated.

Speaking about the upcoming general election, Dr Minnis said the process will be safe, adding that the COVID-19 curfews throughout the country will be strictly enforced.

He reminded people travelling from New Providence, Grand Bahama, Eleuthera, Exuma, Abaco, and North and South Eleuthera that they are required to present negative COVID-19 test results prior to travel.

Fully vaccinated people may present a negative rapid antigen or RT PCR test results.

He also stressed that the number of people campaigning in groups is limited to five, all of whom must be fully vaccinated.

Bahamians 65 years and older will be permitted to vote in the advance polls, which he said will also reduce the number of Bahamians voting on a single day.

ohdrap4 2 years, 8 months ago

Well, the scence quoted yesterday was outdated as full vaccination is not the key to the end of the pandemic. At least now he has admitted that the hesitant are critical thinkers. He will concice some. But rushing them will not dissuade those who cannot trust his authority or Dr. Carissa Etienne's.

Anyway, if I see these "FULLY VACCINATED", I will not let them into my bubble.

Cobalt 2 years, 8 months ago

Here is what bothers me…….. y’all don’t see what goes on in the ICU. These very same people who state that they are against the vaccination end up pleading for it once they get in the Critical Care ICU. When they become diaphoretic, cyanotic and dyspneic then all of a sudden the picture becomes abundantly clear to them. And as the feeling of impending doom overwhelms them and they come face to face with their own mortality and the realization of their own stupidity sets in. See….. it’s easy to talk foolishness when you can breathe. But when you can’t breathe, there is no room left for stupidity and conspiracy theories. And the look in their eyes tell the entire tale. Many of them plead for their lives before they code. Ironically, when this scenario does take place, they are ALL suddenly willing to take Remdesivir, Convalescent Plasma, and Monoclonal Antibodies which is simply an Intravenous version of the very same vaccination they were refusing to take to begin with. Honestly, I rather not give it to them. I’d rather they die by their own stupidity. Helping stupid people only begets more stupid people. I’d rather preserve that medication for people who truly deserve it. But unfortunately my oath as a physician doesn’t allow it. Plus there are too many other doctors and nurses around watching. Anyway….. all I’m saying is that if you don’t wish to get vaccinated then don’t. But when you go into Acute Respiratory Failure please please please don’t come to the hospital begging us to intervene. Please maintain your very same dogmatic, idiotic, stupid position.

DonAnthony 2 years, 8 months ago

Amen. Here is what bothers me, all these people complaining about PMH not having enough doctors or beds to care for all these COVID patients. If your ass was vaccinated you would not be gasping for breath in the hallways or verandas of PMH. This should be plastered on billboards at every roundabout in the country (rather than those ubiquitous nauseating red and yellow election signs) : from March until the end of July there was not ONE fully vaccinated person admitted to hospital or who died from COVID! Science works, conspiracy theories cause death, practice personal responsibility, get vaccinated Bahamas. Do it for yourself, do it for your family, do it for your country.

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 8 months ago

You will be the very person suffering as you continue to allow our leaders to make dumb decisions then point fingers at the cat and say is because they cross the road.

Science does work. 97% of people have not died, have not gotten sick. Why? Your one sided emotional arguments do us no good. All of the children I see being put forward as poster "children" for the anyone can get infected campaign are obese. Why? There are so many obvious questions to be examined. This caveman blunt vaccinate everybody campaign is missing valuable insights. Examine all of the data. I fear were going to hold on to this approach until its too late to look at parallel and simultaneous approaches. Israel is already saying people with the 3rd booster were reinfected.

DWW 2 years, 8 months ago

prettysurethisisn'tyours

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 8 months ago

oh so now you would take away citizenship from persons you deem unworthy. You (generic mob rule judge and jury you) are getting more dangerous by the day.

DonAnthony 2 years, 8 months ago

And you like most Bahamians love to play the victim and criticize government and have completely unrealistic expectations of what they are entitled to rather than simply being responsible for yourself. Take the vaccine save your life and stop bitching about government. Pathetic.

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 8 months ago

Whos playing the victim? You like most Bahamians didnt pass reading comprehension. I am for vaccination. What I am not for is this unvaccinated bashing and I am not for blind allegiance. I ask questions. And entitied to? Seriously? Plant your strawman arguments somewhere else I een da one. Asking someone to ask a question, asking govt to require vaccinated persons to present a PCR test on entry literally has nothing to do with "entitlement" and everything to do with reasonable measures to protect the Bahamas. If you want to be a blind mouse you do that with Cobalt And DWW.. 3 of you

DonAnthony 2 years, 8 months ago

Are u even vaccinated?

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 8 months ago

My personal medical info is none of your business. Ive stated my view, thats as much as you need to know. I believe the vaccines work. I believe they could be used more surgically. I believe its not the only answer meaning it alone will fall short of a solution.

DonAnthony 2 years, 8 months ago

You are speaking out of both sides of your mouth. You say you are for vaccines yet would not even say that you are vaccinated. And if you are vaccinated then your posts make no sense. Reminds me of family in WhatsApp chats who rail against vaccines, constantly posting anti vaccine propaganda and I know for a fact they are vaccinated. Have the courage of your convictions and stand for something or you will fall for anything.

FrustratedBusinessman 2 years, 8 months ago

While you are on such a long diatribe, tell me how many of you doctors own pharmacies? I bet that your mouth is shut on that one.

Don't worry, a filthy "unvaxxed" (quotes because this is very clearly not a vaccine) person like me would not seek out your services even if I were dying. Once upon a time, I went to a doctor for insomnia and left hooked on benzodiazepines. At no point in time was I ever warned that they were an addictive substance and should only be prescribed for a maximum of two weeks; on the contrary, I ended up taking them as instructed for several years until one day I missed a dose and ended up going through withdrawals. It was only then that I realized what a mess that I was in. Through nearly a year of the Ahston method, I was able to taper down to the point where I was able to get off. My personal Hell had just begun at that point. It took nearly half a year for my body/mind to even adjust to regular life again. Insomnia, the shakes, muscle spasms, horrible paresthesia, and only God knows whatever else plagues me during that time. I remember one night just lying on the floor shaking uncontrollably. It took six months, but God willing I got better. It was the biggest eye-opener for me on the medical industry that I could have ever went through.

Whether your god-complex will allow you to admit it or not, you people are human just like everyone else. You have no bloody clue on what the long term outcomes of this treatment may be, but you have no problem chastising and deriding others because they want to protect their health first. If there are adverse long term effects of this treatment, people like you will certainly not help any one suffering through it. I have every God given right to decide what I do/do not want to put into my body, and I refuse to feel pressured into compromising that right by anyone else.

Trust me, I wouldn't visit you even if I were dying. As Gadhafi said, you people "create the problems, and then sell the cure". Go let me know how many of you own pharmacies across the country and get back to me. I haven't been to a doctor in years, and I thank God for my good health. Bush medicine, or if I am really sick, an Advil, is the way to go. It has kept me through for years, and I have no intentions of ever changing that any time soon.

Bobsyeruncle 2 years, 8 months ago

Don't worry, a filthy "unvaxxed" (quotes because this is very clearly not a vaccine)

What is it then ? What do you personally know that no-one else in the healthcare & scientific world knows? I can't wait to learn

FrustratedBusinessman 2 years, 8 months ago

Will answer your question with a question. Can you still catch and transmit COVID even after your two shots (or one, depending on what you are taking)?

Don't give me any of that BS about muh milder symptoms, I remember quite clearly having to spend the majority of last year wearing a mask everywhere because of "asymptomatic" cases being constantly mentioned in the typical fear porn media fashion. It is funny how the narrative has shifted from anyone around you could have COVID and not show it, to you are all of a sudden going to die unless you get injected with some mystery concoction in a year.

To clarify, I have no problem with anyone deciding to take whatever they want, everyone is responsible for their own life decisions, I just feel that nobody should be bloody forced to. We have no idea of what the long term outcomes will look like with these treatments. God forbid they ever cause adverse long term effects (it may or may not, we don't know), who will foot the bill from a mandate? Who is willing to accept liability now? No one so far.

Bobsyeruncle 2 years, 8 months ago

Yes you can catch and transmit COVID even after you are fully vaccinated. That does not mean it is NOT a vaccine

And as far as long term effects, pre-clinical & clinical trials try and give an answer to that, as best as possible. As with all other disease treatments that are approved by regulatory bodies, clinical trials do actually continue long after the treatment has been approved. These days there are much stricter requirements for drug approval, than there were 40-50 yrs ago. Not to mention the days when penicillin, antibiotics, aspirin, tylenol, antiseptics, small pox vaccine etc, were discovered. Most of those had either very limited studies or none at all, but they ended up saving millions of peoples lives (or making their lives more comfortable).

It's not just drugs that we don't know the long term effects of. What about when TV's were invented, space travel, airplanes, cars, food supplements, cellphones, microwave ovens, the electric light bulb. There are literally thousands of things out there that we now take for granted, that were once new & novel and not well understood.

Now please answer my original question, but not with another question

FrustratedBusinessman 2 years, 8 months ago

https://www.dictionary.com/browse/vac...">https://www.dictionary.com/browse/vac...

Terming something a "vaccine" implies that there is an immunity being granted. Can I expect to develop polio if I take the polio vaccination? What about hep A or B? It is quite clear that these treatments do not prevent someone from catching or transmitting COVID. Whether it makes COVID more bearable is another discussion, but the fact is that we are still back to square one with masks, social distancing, etc. Minnis was very clearly wrong when he insinuated that the pandemic was "over" for those who had taken the shots. Even what the federal government of Canada is doing makes no sense. Someone who has taken the shots can still easily infect those around them in the confines of an airplane, so there is zero practical purpose for saying that those who have refused the shots should not be able to fly (at least from a transmission POV).

Agreed with you that medical advancements can save millions of lives, but there is a flip side of that coin as well. Nobody realized that asbestos was harmful until millions of people had inhaled more than enough to kill them, in many cases right from their own homes. I am sure that millions of people died from cancer before people realized that there was a correlation with tobacco smoking. Same with how not many realized how CFCs destroy the ozone layer. Point is that we end up learning a lot of things as we go. I think that a big problem with how governments are handling this is that they are not willing to admit that. Grasping for straws and being proven wrong afterwards (like how Minnis was with his the pandemic is over comments) only serves to make the governments world wide look bad.

Not what you may have meant, but even something like the TV has had unforeseen effects on society. Think about how many people spend all day in front of some kind of screen, and then correlate that with the rising rates of mental illness we are seeing. All of this artificial light only disturbs the circadian rhythm and prevents us from getting our proper rest. Thinking about how we live compared to the history of our ancestors who were here for thousands of years before us shows that we are truly living in a world unlike any other. I would go as far as to say that, in most cases, we are not living the way our bodies were designed too. The amount of caffeine, plus so little (especially REM) sleep that we have today as a collective is no doubt playing a role in a lot of the mental issues that we are seeing crop up in recent years. Pretty deep when you start to think about it.

Cobalt 2 years, 8 months ago

As a physician, I don’t have a problem with anyone refusing to get vaccinated. All we ask is that when you people get sick and hypoxic, please don’t come to the hospital asking us to save you! Please just stay at home and die! Trust me, we are all okay with that. The more fools in the grave the better.

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 8 months ago

As a lay person I wish physicians would get together as a group to give us real research studying our own people. I havent heard one physician to date present or request data on persons who've died after taking the vaccine. . Not just from COVID, from anything..This is part of a standard "new medication" evaluation policy, it doesn't imply the medication is bad, it says we're checking to ensure it isn't .... first do no harm.

Israel is up to the 3rd booster and still seeing reinfections. The first world is acknowledging that even boosters wont solve our COVID problem. Delta is most likely not the last variant and while I do believe vaccinations will give us time just like the lockdowns did in the early stages, I also believe we're wasting the opportunity in our arrogance by not doing something with that time.

I also wish for God's sake that vaccinated people would stop demonizing their fellow men and women. One day you will be on the other side of a virus. You will either be facing epsilon or you will be elderly and vulnerable. The data is quite clear to anyone not acting on emotion, our problems were brought on by decision makers and lax rules at the border not the unvaccinated.

I listened to the PM and his "updated" border policy, he is still not requiring that vaccinated people produce a PCR test before crossing the border. (The rapid antigen tests have a high failure rate). This policy is suicude.

Physicians have made mistakes after mistakes over the course of this pandemic starting with the misuse of ventilators, just because a person in a white cost says something it doesn't make it the word from God. We must always critically assess what we're being given. That was always and will always be a good thing.

Bobsyeruncle 2 years, 8 months ago

As a lay person I wish physicians would get together as a group to give us real research studying our own people.

Sorry, but Physicians don't do Research, they diagnose and treat people. Research scientists, colleges, scientific institutions etc. do research.

Also, Israel is only offering boosters to people over 60 or those severely immunocompromised and this program only started a little over 2 weeks ago, so too early to say whether or not it will be effective

John 2 years, 8 months ago

& Cobalt: Obviously you are a part of the agenda . Spreading fears and lies. If you choose to render services to the public at a tax funded, government institution, then you should also exempt the public from taxes. But of course you are still a racist. Name one country that has done mass vaccinations and the numbers of Covid cases are declining. If you are, in fact a doctor, you must be Dr Death.

DWW 2 years, 8 months ago

morerussianresearch #facepalm

Bobsyeruncle 2 years, 8 months ago

John, please understand the PRIMARY GOAL of the vaccine, is to reduce the chances of hospitalization and/or death. Covid cases will still occur even in the vaccinated, but the symptoms will be much milder. I don't understand why this is so hard to understand. Oh and yes, COVID cases are declining in many countries mainly due to vaccinations & natural immunity from being previously infected.

Cobalt 2 years, 8 months ago

The reason that we as physicians haven’t published any research is because we are NOT research physicians! Research is not our area of expertise! We are hospitalists and intensivists. We are clinicians! Not researchers! Our country has no research physicians; or microbiologists; or epidemiologists etc etc. We are lacking badly in these fields. I don’t think y’all truly understand the condition of our country. We don’t have any government employed Bahamian scientist in the same way we do not have any government owned and operated hurricane shelters!

ohdrap4 2 years, 8 months ago

The appeal to authority is a fallacy. Sometimes the object of the appeal maybe convinced if he trusts the authority. But doctors spent a lot of credibility last year and the politician's own has always been fleeting.

Perhaps research requires funding and expensive materials. But discovery and observation does not. As a physician you surely have heard of John Snow, Ignaz Semmelweiss and just 20 years or so ago, Barry Marshall. It takes persistence.

Unless I was delirious, I would not beg for vaccine. Perhaps I would be angry , but would suffer the consequences.

I worry about your mental state doctor. You need a break. You should not be so angry as to call patients stupid.

Cobalt 2 years, 8 months ago

Stupid is what stupid does. And I’m not here to initiate a senseless and endless debate with you. If YOU don’t want the vaccination, that’s fine. Just stay at home and die or treat yourself when or if you get sick. That’s the gist of my message. It would be better for all of us.

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 8 months ago

The state of the hospital is not because of the unvaccinated. Your anger is misplaced. I find myself agreeing with ondrap4, you may be in the wrong profession doctors shouldnt hate their patients or deny them care.

Just look back in history at the flippant statements from DR Minnis that he'd let vaccinated tourists in the country without testing. And all vaccinated whi wanted to have parties could Party On! Look at the emphatic denial from the Health Minister that there were no variants in country in the face of obvious evidence of variants. No doctor refuted him.

Your anger should be at the people who let the fox in the henhouse not at the hens because they arent running fast enough.

Cobalt 2 years, 8 months ago

Hey….. if you don’t wish to get vaccinated then don’t. It’s your choice, your body, your life. But I can’t help but feel a little sense of gratification watching people like you wheeled to the morgue. Simply because I know there is one less fool in the world. Sounds awful. But it’s true.

Sickened 2 years, 8 months ago

You as most certainly not a doctor. Gratification? WOW!!!!

tribanon 2 years, 8 months ago

Yup. You meet the very definition of a demented sicko. You and Minnis have a lot in common. Small wonder you worship him so much and are always willing to do his bidding when it comes to pushing the vaccines by scaremongering and sputtering coercive threats.

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 8 months ago

Noone certainly, not myself, is asking you to invent a vaccine.

I have been calling for scientific analysis of data. You are telling not one doctor in the country is capable of doing that? Not one doctor wondered for a second whether we should look at our own numbers for abnormalities? The doctor doesnt even have to do the number crunching, get together with a data analyst or statistician,guide them based on your knowledge, then you use your medical knowledge to analyze and make inferences from the results. Nobody is capable of that? Not one doctor stopped for a second after decades of recorded data of medicines being pulled from the market after discovery of ill effects to human subjects to say, this vaccine came to market pretty quickly, we should monitor its effects, especially people who've taken it who've died? Nobody? If that is true we are truly in trouble

And that is just one question, there are others to be analyzed. Im flabbergasted at a statement from a doctor that says no doctor in the Bahamas can look at data and conduct research. Thats amazing

DWW 2 years, 8 months ago

facepalm

DWW 2 years, 8 months ago

new england journal of medecine. journal of american medical association, the Lancet, and i can guve you a few more to get into if you like.

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 8 months ago

If you are referring to articles written by Bahamians, you dont have to, I know Bahamian doctors know how to write a scientific paper. Ive personally had discussions on submissions, for years now. As I said Im flabberghasted your doctor fellow fighter in the Bahamas would say Bahamian doctors are incapable of conducting research.

What I am doubly interested in is studues conducted on COVID related data on Bahamian subjects. All of the data. Vaccinated, unvaccinated, asymptomatic. 97% of us were never sick. Why?

Dr Dahl Reghis is more than capable. Im very proud of her. They tried to sideline her initially because of her age but time and talent rose to the top.

Bobsyeruncle 2 years, 8 months ago

The term "Doctor" is not exclusive to Physicians, so I'm thinking there is a disconnect here. If you are referring to GP's, Physicians, Surgeons etc. then they do not typically do research.

Believe it or not, performing accurate and correct scientific research requires a certain skillset & understanding of how to do research and Physician's don't typically have these necessary skillsets to do this. This is why there are so many "false" studies out there on YouTube FB etc, conducted by 'Physicians'. As soon as your average layman sees a video by an author who is a physician, they think it has to be true, because that person is a Physician, whereas someone who has the necessary experience in the field of scientific research will immediately be able to poke holes in the design of the study or the data interpretation.

It's like saying any engineer will know how to design a bridge or a building, or a car or a spacecraft.

Cobalt 2 years, 8 months ago

@ThisisOurs. Scientific analysis has to be conducted by a scientist, my friend! Not a doctor. Doctor’s are clinicians! They are not biomedical engineers, chemists or physicists. I’m trying to explain it nicely to you because I realize that you simply don’t understand how the branches of natural science works. Science is very organized and it’s very specific. And there are a lot of things you don’t understand. Furthermore, we don’t need data analysis to crunch numbers. The results are clear as day to anyone who is paying attention. But anyway….. to your point…… The PHO is keeping record of COVID19 cases, vaccination rates, as well as morbidity & mortality reports. The statistics are showing that 98.333% of COVID related deaths are among the unvaccinated!! That’s what you are not understanding!! We ARE keeping track of records and statistics. But when we’ve tried to explain these results to Bahamians, most of them rebuff us and tell us that our statistical data is wrong. The bottom line is “most Bahamians simply do not wish to be vaccinated”. And they are willing to believe or reject anything that supports this position. Most Bahamian people are not objective thinkers. They cannot grasp the concept of “evidence base practice”. They cannot understand that science and the scientific method controls everything in the very world that we live in. Many of us take drugs and don’t even think to understand how these drugs work. What is the drug design? What is the active ingredient of the drug? What are the pharmacokinetics of the drug? What are the pharmacodynamics of the drug? Instead, we just talk what we think and assume that because we think something that makes it true. Well it doesn’t! Scientific experimentation, data, and results are what makes things true. These are the things that separates facts from fiction; sense from foolishness. And the scientific data that we are seeing as clinicians suggests that the vaccinations are helping to decrease COVID19 death rates. Plain and simple. I don’t know what else to tell you.

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 8 months ago

Seriously again??? Listen Cobalt I PERSONALLY know doctors who work in partnership with statisticans every year to conduct medical research. The statisticians do the number crunching guided by the medical knowledge and the doctors analyze the results. If you want to focus on what cant be done God go with you

The statistics show 97% of people never got sick.

Your data isnt wrong its incomplete. Can you tell me today the number of persons in the community who were asymptomatic? No. Because you dont have the data. Incomplete. Nobody took the time to identify the outcomes so nobody prepared the required data collection mechanisms

Amazing that noone can give a count of persons who were vaccinated and died. Forget the cause of death. You couldnt even give a number because nobody is checking. When the CDC reports a death they dont say "we know the cause", they say it has to be investigated but the death is reported as an individual who received the vaccine and died. They want to make 3000% certain that the vaccine wasnt the cause. We not even checking. We dont care. We just barreling down the road then we gonna be shocked down the road if some negative impact is discovered, just as we are today, shocked that the hospital is at capacity. The road was paved from July 2020 for people looking at the data

Bobsyeruncle 2 years, 8 months ago

ThisisOurs, you are not entirely incorrect, but you are also not entirely correct. A lot of qualified MD's decide to stay in the Research field and forego the opportunity to practice medicine. My late uncle was one of these MD's. After a few years of practicing medicine he decided to move into the corporate world and spent most of his working life in the Research field working on conducting Clinical Trials and studying Pharmacokinetics, along with Biostatisticians. . The Doctors who you know who work with Statisticians are probably not practicing medicine, even though they may be qualified MD's. And if you do personally know doctors who are working with statisticians, then I think you should be able to ask them for the answers to your questions, right?

ohdrap4 2 years, 8 months ago

tribanon 2 years, 8 months ago

The @Cobalt "She" might be a "He", or more likely an inhumane "It".

tribanon 2 years, 8 months ago

@Cobalt would have us believe he is a physician, but he is clearly not one. No well trained and qualified physician on this planet would ever say, and I quote:

"I’d rather they die by their own stupidity. Helping stupid people only begets more stupid people. I’d rather preserve that medication for people who truly deserve it. But unfortunately my oath as a physician doesn’t allow it. Plus there are too many other doctors and nurses around watching."

And the fact that @DonAnthony endorsed those very same words of @Cobalt with his own "Amen" really says all there is to say about these two pathetic scaremongering imbeciles. They are almost as bullying and arrogant as Minnis himself and therefore it's no surprise at all that they worship him so much. Talk about lousy dead beats - these scaremongering loonies really take the cake!

baclarke 2 years, 8 months ago

The crux of the matter is, the current vaccines will not end the pandemic. They are a stop-gap measure to helping to prevent severe disease and hospitalization, that is it. So while I support vaccinations, I do not think that they should be mandatory, and we should not demonize and vilify persons who do not wish to take them. We need to emphasize more mandatory testing, not only for travelers, but also locally for any type of large gathering including in-person dining. Currently, restaurants do not test "fully vaccinated" persons who want to dine inside. Lastly, we should entertain experimental medications that other countries have used to keep decrease hospitalizations such as ivermectin and hydroxychloroquine. The "vaccine or nothing" attitude is what is killing this and many other countries.

tribanon 2 years, 8 months ago

Minnis said: "Bahamas Welding & Fire also presently has 2,500 gallons of liquid oxygen to supply to the clinics and the South Beach Clinic."

Let's hope management of Bahamas Welding & Fire and dim wit Minnis know that only very high quality, medical-grade liquid oxygen should be used for medical purposes.

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 8 months ago

lol

John 2 years, 8 months ago

Cobolt is nothing more that a high polluting, nasty racist whose agenda is to peer down its nose condescendingly at the rest of the world and with despise and scorn.

Cobalt 2 years, 8 months ago

Not the world. Just you.

John 2 years, 8 months ago

Not according to the posts on this thread alone.

bcitizen 2 years, 8 months ago

Seriously doubt Cobalt is a medical doctor. If her/she is they should make their name public and license number so I for one can avoid ever coming under their care. I seriously doubt they would do that because, it would not be long before he got put in front of a ethics committee from the medical council for his statements.

lobsta 2 years, 8 months ago

Research! Who in this country thinks they are qualified to do research? 99% of those "researching" have a below average education and those 1% left, have no qualification in the field. Stop insulting thousands of experts worldwide and take the damn vaccine! Who do you think you are? These are people who spent their lifetime in research and education, they all support the vaccines. No, there is no really qualified scientist, publication, study or otherwise who supports the stupidity of half of the commenters here. Zero, nada!

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 8 months ago

You dont have to spend no lifetime doing research. University students do it every single year at the masters and PHd level. As I said, nobody is asking anyone to find the cure for COVID or create an alternate vaccine. we are asking them to create protocols to capture meaningful data then analyze and interpret that data. Our university has been lazy to this point. So lazy you and Cobalt telling us its literally impossible.

"No, there is no really qualified scientist, publication, study or otherwise who supports the stupidity of half of the commenters here. Zero, nada!"

Really? Israeli scientists just completed research that says the boosters are probably not sufficient. The CDC just reported today that vaccinated vulnerable communities including pregnant women should avoid criuises. I posted the results last week on research investigating the link between obesity and COVID. There are tons of scientists and scientific research that supports the fact that vaccines alone are not sufficient. You dont want to accept it. The one thing I see smart people saying in this pandemic is, we dont have all thr answers

Bobsyeruncle 2 years, 8 months ago

Collection and Interpretation of data is not as simple as you seem to think it is. There are many variables (controlled & uncontrolled) that can influence a study. Hopefully, you know that?

Studies have to be carefully designed. You can't just pick a couple of things and look for a correlation. There is typically always an influence from other variables, so you have to design the study around those. Any researcher or statistician will tell you this. Also, remember the golden rule - CORRELATION DOES NOT ALWAYS MEAN CAUSATION..

And those studies you referred to offer nothing new that most people already assumed or knew about. Sorry, but nothing earth shattering there.

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 8 months ago

Studies have to be designed very carefully and correlation does not mean causation...

Well duuhh

You guys constantly pick up what you want to hear and completely ignore the rest. I made a point of saying doctors work with data analysts and statisticians. Are you telling me that a data analyst or statistician guided by medical practitioner on the objectives of the study and the variables of interest cant calculate a correlation coefficient?? Is that what you're telling me? That theyre incapable of taking a dataset and conducting regression analysis? How far will you guys go to keep your blinders on?

Saying its too hard and it cant be done and who knows how to design a study at the university where they offer advanced degrees in economics, will definitely ensure we get nowhere

Bobsyeruncle 2 years, 8 months ago

You can't flip-flop between the word 'Doctor' and 'Medical Practitioner'. they are not one and the same. Yes, Research DOCTORS work with data analysts & statisticians. They also work with Toxicologists, CRO's, Pharmacologists (PK, DM etc). MEDICAL Doctors practice medicine, and work in hospitals, health centers etc. They generally do not interact with data analysts or statisticians. They are more likely to interact with Sales people from Drug companies, and hospital administrators. I think people are getting confused by your posts because of this..

If you think it's easy to do, you go ahead and design a study. Since you have personal contacts with physicians who interact with data analysts (per your earlier post), why not contact them and ask if they will either do it for you, or assist you, or COB to get the information you want.

tribanon 2 years, 8 months ago

ZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzz.........

Bobsyeruncle 2 years, 8 months ago

Thought you'd gone fishing? Guess they ain't biting

themessenger 2 years, 8 months ago

@lobsta, don't waste your breath ma brudda, carlton gets his information from a Russian State run media service like the Trumpie he is, Tribanon gets his jollies stirring shit and "druling', his word, in his own cesspit then flinging it wherever he thinks it will stick. John, the arch racist, thinks everyone else in the world but him is a racist particularly if his opinion differs from yours. But then, as my late father in law used to say, it takes all kinds to make up the social order, and the cows may come and the cows may go but the bullshit in this place goes on forever!

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 8 months ago

I cant believe you two see a big institution sitting in the middle of the town, had a big ceremony to convert it to a university, then publish here today that no Bahamian doctor is capable of conducting research

John 2 years, 8 months ago

Study: Fully vaccinated people with "breakthrough" COVID Delta infections carry as much virus as the unvaccinated . . Minnis say Bahamians should not hesitate or take time to do research but OXFORD ( makers of the AstraGenica vaccine says differently. Persons who are fully vaccinated and have a breakthrough of the virus carry just as much viral load as unvaccinated people who are infected . This means these persons are asymptotic super spreaders. And when they receive their third dose they increase their antibodies 20 fold. They also increased their ability to spread the virus. The vaccines act like a mirror projecting the virus on to others. . . IN THEIR PRESENT FORM COVID VACCINES ARE BECOMING OBSOLETE! The spokesperson for OXFORD says vaccines are becoming less effective against the Delta virus and in their present form these vaccines will become obsolete. Since they do not prevent the virus or prevent a person from spreading the virus, it is difficult to determine the true benefits of the vaccines. . . And reports coming from several other vaccine makers echo similar sentiments.

DonAnthony 2 years, 8 months ago

Less effective does not mean ineffective! From March through July not a single fully vaccinated person was hospitalized or died from COVID in the Bahamas. Vaccines work. There is no debate on this point.

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 8 months ago

What part of vaccines are part of the solution didnt you hear?

DonAnthony 2 years, 8 months ago

From you? A person who even lacks courage to say if they have taken the vaccine or not despite having anonymity 😀 you have zero credibility on this issue.

whatsup 2 years, 8 months ago

So where is the Covid in Afghanistan?????

John 2 years, 8 months ago

IS that is why they are DUMPING the vaccines? Because they are becoming OBSOLETE?

M0J0 2 years, 8 months ago

vaccine can be suggested as a tool but not the only way out. If more truthful information was being shared many may of considered, but its just shut up n get jab up.

stillwaters 2 years, 8 months ago

Man....I truly enjoyed this blog today.....the conspiracy theorists really met their match today in one cobalt......they ganged up on cobalt and they vex vex