NASSAU, Bahamas – Describing it as a “tragedy,” Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) Leader Philip “Brave” Davis said on Sunday, August 8, that Prime Minister Dr. Hubert A. Minnis “has failed to plan ahead and failed to prepare the country for the fast-spreading Delta variant.”
In a statement released to the Media, Mr. Davis said The Bahamas “has more COVID cases and deaths per capita than regional neighbours,” adding that The Bahamas also “has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the region.”
Noting that a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister this evening (August 8) claimed that the The Prime Minister has fought throughout the pandemic to get vaccines for Bahamians, Mr. Davis declared: “The Prime Minister says he fought to get vaccines – well, it’s a fight he is losing badly. Our country was 17th in the region to begin vaccinations. We are hundreds of thousands of vaccine doses short and have one of the lowest vaccination rates in the region. Nearly every other country in our region is doing better.”
Mr. Davis added: “Minnis blocked a private sector effort in February of this year to bring in thousands of Pfizer doses.
“Meanwhile, countries like Aruba, the Cayman Islands, Curacao, the Dominican Republic, Saint Maarten, and Turks and Caicos have procured the Pfizer vaccine for their people. (Source: Caribbean Public HealthAgency).
“The tragedy is that Minnis has failed to plan ahead and failed to prepare the country for the fast-spreading Delta variant. He has failed to procure sufficient vaccines, failed to expand testing to stay ahead of outbreaks, failed to use contact tracing effectively, failed to retain nurses, failed to consult with or respect local medical professionals, failed to implement a public education campaign, failed to improve public health capacity, failed to provide high-quality masks, and failed to improve ventilation.”
The Opposition Leader concluded that these failures “have meant illness and heartbreak for too many Bahamian families and have left The Bahamas with one of the worst COVID performances in the region.”
