EDITORIAL: Hesitation may be your last regret

As of Wednesday, July 7, 2021

OUR country’s hesitation to get vaccinated is coming home to roost – with Princess Margaret Hospital now at full capacity.

Hospital administrator Mary Walker added her voice to the recent calls for Bahamians to get vaccinated.

How stark is the difference between being vaccinated and not getting your jabs? We’ll leave that to Mrs Walker to make clear.

She said: “There are a minority, I would say about two percent that would have had just one immunisations, but the vast majority of the persons that we are dealing with at the Princess Margaret Hospital and the South Beach Health Centre have not had any vaccination.”

Consider that difference. About two percent against about 98 percent. The difference between getting a jab or not can be the difference between staying out of hospital or ending up on a ward – or worse.

That tracks with experiences around the world, with more than 99% of recent deaths in the US from COVID-19 being among those who are unvaccinated. Look at a chart of COVID deaths in the US since the start of the year and you’ll see the result clearly – a steady drop in deaths in the country as the amount of vaccinations go up.

This isn’t just a matter for people with COVID, either. There is a knock-on effect for patients in need of treatment for other matters. If a bed is full for a COVID patient, it isn’t available for a patient in need for something else.

Work it out – if the patients in there are mostly unvaccinated, if they had all had vaccinations they wouldn’t be there either, leaving beds free for other patients in need.

The government has to do its part and secure more doses, but we haven’t run out yet, so if people wanted to get the jab, they have had plenty of opportunity now to do so.

Health Minister Renward Wells reinforced the need. “If you do contract COVID having taken a vaccine, your likelihood of having been hospitalised is dramatically reduced and your chances of dying from this disease is almost nil.”

Almost nil. Skip the vaccination, and you’re gambling with your life.

Hospital deal

It has been a long time coming, but yesterday a $90m deal was signed to upgrade Princess Margaret Hospital and the Rand Memorial in Grand Bahama.

The choice will have been a tough one, with strong bids put forward – even one involving the world-renowned Johns Hopkins Hospital, which would have brought with it considerable international expertise.

In the end, the BECK Group’s bid won through, with Health Minister Renward Wells noting the group’s “solid track record of performance in partnership with the PHA when redeveloping our public hospitals here in The Bahamas”.

He also noted that the group will “utilise the top Bahamian talent available for the architectural and engineering component of these projects”, and pointed out opportunities for local contractors.

Now that the decision has been made, we hope the very best outcome. We hope that BECK will deliver the world class facilities that Bahamians deserve. They have won the bid against strong competition, so now’s the time to live up to that challenge.

If the result is better medical facilities for all Bahamians, that’s a win for everyone.

carltonr61 2 years, 9 months ago

While the rest of the world is throwing in their vaccination gloves the Bahamas is just digging into more vaccinations. UK and Israel both saw initial good test results but vaccine tests on persons between 6and 8 months reveal that efficacy was decreased to 50%60%. Our Covid scientists here should warm the vaccinated of a powerful resurgence come October. This is not happening to the unvaccinated.

joeblow 2 years, 9 months ago

... it might be important for the editor to highlight what the criteria for admission to hospital is for those with covid. Beds can be filled with covid positive patients who are just being observed, IN AN EFFORT to push the vaccination agenda. I don't know, but something is wrong when a person has more questions than answers after reading a article!

ThisIsOurs 2 years, 9 months ago

"Skip the vaccination, and you’re gambling with your life."

Id say the authorities are gambling with our lives.

Some months ago the tribune itself wrote an article about the Spanish flu and how poor people were left in the city to die while the rich fled to the countryside. The poor were left to chose between the starving to death and getting infected. So what did they do under such bleak circumstances? They partied

Up to this weekend the PM was touting how well we were handling tge virus. The accounts noted that he jokingly told people to get ready for election, while making a speech in a church. He was doing this while noone knew PMH was at capacity. You really have to wonder why that statement came from the hospital and not the health minister???

My guess, right about now the propoganda machine says there can be no bad news. Tourism is back! and we need to ride that horse that to the polling station

John 2 years, 9 months ago

Can you name one country that is more vaccinated than The Bahamas that is faring better than this country when it comes to numbers of new cases, hospitalized persons and deaths? The vaccines are an oversell. Corona viruses usually disappear after a while or become like the common flu. They don’t remain a pandemic

proudloudandfnm 2 years, 9 months ago

God.... All of you above are morons....

joeblow 2 years, 9 months ago

... like a child, you often name call with out adding anything substantive to discussions. Maybe explain why you have a perspective for a change!

proudloudandfnm 2 years, 9 months ago

Ok. 99% of all people hospitalized with covid are unvaccinated. 99% of covid deaths are unvaccinated. How's that? Get it now? See why I call them morons?

baclarke 2 years, 9 months ago

Sure, those who are touting conspiracy theories, perhaps you can label them as "morons". However, "cautious" is a more appropriate term for those who understand the risks involved and the data, and simply choose to wait to take a vaccine. While it is rare, some persons don't want to fall into the rare category of death, paralysis, etc, due to VITT. Yeah, the virus can kill you, but if the vaccine can too, then it has to remain a choice for the individual to make..... Personally, I am looking at the new NVX-CoV2373 Novavax COVID-19 vaccine. This one is based on more traditional tried and true vaccination creation techniques and is looking to be less riskier than the others.

baclarke 2 years, 9 months ago

Also, remember, the data is showing that these vaccines will most likely become seasonal like the flu shot since they loose their efficacy after a while. Therefore, it's even more important to choose a vaccine that you are willing to take every year. Personally, I choose not to take one which can possibly induce VITT every time i take it.

whogothere 2 years, 9 months ago

IF THE JABS WORK WHY DO YOU NEED TO TOP THEM UP EVERY 3-6 MONTHS...

whogothere 2 years, 9 months ago

You are so full sH*t - 99.9 % of people vaccinated or otherwise don't die of covid (which is the same survival rate of the flu) - Vaccine or not. 98% of people are not hospitalised from covid - vaccinated or not. And has pertains to the the delta virus the Data from the England that it's 50//50 vaccinated/not for those that have died from covid. The data from Seychelles (which is uses around 50% az vaccine) shows the complete collapses of effacy. Israeli data likewise shows the changing tide in protection from the Pfizer. Cases increases are happening Utah like crazy - but they don't count breakthrough cases...yet Fauci/who/cdc all claimed spikes would not happen if vaccination levels were high... This is normal it happens every year with the flu. This time last year cases plummeted in June/July temperate climates only to increase with the fall. I m old enough to remember idiots like you were pushing lockdowns on everyone too and claiming that the solution - well turning a complete blind eye to the fact that this is a mild respiratory disease for anyone that isn't obese or dying of something else...rather stating the fact they'd rather shove needles in arms and lock up people. It's utter BS.

truetruebahamian 2 years, 9 months ago

Just get vaccinated and don't waste your time believing fakebook and the shallow minds or conspiracy contributors.

whogothere 2 years, 9 months ago

nobody uses Facebook anymore. There isn't a conspiracy just common sense and data. Nobody is saying if you're old, obese, or have underlying conditions you should not get the vaccine - it is a personal choice and one that should be made on the best evidence. No one here is saying is the mark of the devil or it's micro chip etc etc. It is simply very clear that after 1.5 years of this 'pandemic' the vast vast vast majority of people that are otherwise healthy have nothing to fear from COVID. The myopic view the public health now defined by only the number cases of COVID in nation is a disaster for society: our children, small businesses and those put risk given the additional cost of obtaining early diagnosis of other more harmful diseases. The glorification and universalising of the vaccine as the only solution hides the risks and also it's short comings...the evidence is growing that Vaccines in their Current form do not stop transmission therefore negating the effectiveness of herd immunity or the measure by which our governments use to asses progress against the disease. Similarly it is appearent that whatever protection is offered is short lived with older those with underlying conditions accounting for 50% of death in the UK from the delta variant. This is not conspiracy just the reality...

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