First Batch Of Covid Vaccine To Arrive On Friday

January 5, 2021

Just over 9,000 doses — enough for 4,500 people — of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are scheduled to arrive in Bermuda this Friday [Jan 8], and the Ministry will begin administering the vaccine on Monday [Jan 11] to healthcare workers, essential workers and seniors in rest homes and long-term care facilities.

This was from Health Minister Kim Wilson at this evening’s press conference, with the Minister saying: “I am pleased to confirm that just over 9,000 doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine are scheduled to arrive in Bermuda on the British Airways flight this Friday 8 January 2021. Once the vaccines arrive on island, they will be taken immediately to a storage facility.

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“The Ministry will begin administering the vaccine doses on Monday 11 January 2021, to healthcare and essential workers who agree to take the vaccine.

“In this context, essential frontline workers are those who provide services which prevent social disruption and allow society to function and who are also at risk for higher levels of exposure to COVID-19. This includes firemen, police, corrections officers, personnel at the ports of entry and teachers.

“We will also administer the first batch of the vaccine to our most vulnerable, seniors (who give their consent), in rest homes and long-term care facilities. There is no cost for the vaccine and they will be administered at sites arranged by the Department of Health and with primary care physicians who have been approved by the Department of Health.

“The vaccine will be given in two doses; the first dose will be given next week and for those people the second dose will be given three weeks later. The rollout of the vaccine will proceed along those lines: the first dose, then the second dose administered three weeks later. For the vaccine to be fully effective, two doses are required.

“The vaccine developed by Pfizer/BioNTech has been approved for use in the UK after meeting strict standards of safety, quality and effectiveness set out by the independent Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, which follows international standards of safety. The vaccine has also been approved for use in the United States by the US Food and Drug Administration.

“Thousands of people have been given a COVID-19 vaccine so far, and no serious side effects or complications have been reported.

“Earlier today, the Ministry of Health held a mock vaccination trial exercise at the Hamilton Seventh Day Adventist Church.

“This was a small exercise designed to provide an opportunity for the Department of Health and relevant partners to assess our ability to document vaccine administration events using the 10 to 8 appointment system and the electronic immunization registry. The drill was limited to the simulated movement of patients through the vaccination process.

“We will have post-exercise debriefings tomorrow to evaluate the exercise and determine what tweaks and improvement are necessary,” the Minister added.

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As the island and world deals with the Covid-19 pandemic, we are doing our best to provide timely and accurate information, and you can find more information on the links below.

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Comments (29)

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  1. Jim says:

    How are teachers prioritized over 80+ year olds? This makes no sense. There are plenty of vulnerable seniors who require care in their homes and none are prioritized in this first batch while a 30 year old teacher is?

    • JustThink says:

      They are not prioritized over all 80+ year old. Also, yes, because they are exposed to hundreds of students everyday, who in turn are exposed to several people whom they live with. So they are are much higher risk of contracting the virus, not dying from it. If they do get sick, it would cause the school to need to be closed and potentially hundreds of parents or other primary caregivers to not be able to return to work. This would be a burden on everyone connected to the quarantine. An 80 year old, while at more risk for dire outcomes from infection, can be exposed to extremely limited people and would not potentially expose hundreds, or thousands of others.

      • Lol says:

        And thus you have justified taking the choice away from any who have reservations abouy this. For tou own food right and the food of you.

    • Question says:

      Watch what happens. At every step the unions will get priority access to vaccines.

      • Wake up Bie says:

        Sorry to tell you the truth but half the population doesn’t even want the vaccine.

        • Toodle-oo says:

          Sounds more like YOU don’t want to get it , and that’s fine but don’t assume any numbers on the public’s part.
          I’ve spoken to a wide range of people about this ranging in age from their 20′s to over 80′s and I haven’t heard anyone say that they’re not looking forward to getting it.
          There’s a big difference between a vocal minority filled with conspiracy theories on on-line chat groups and the general public.

    • James says:

      Agreed….this is a disgrace hidden behind the cover of an independent committee. Yes, you vaccinate doctors on Covid wards but not healthy government workers who have a very low mortality risk. Covid cases are not out of control in Bermuda to justify vaccinating essential workers first. This is about saving lives. Vaccinate ALL of the elderly first.

      • JustThink says:

        This shows you have a very weak grasp of how vaccine programs work. You vaccinate those who have the highest chance of contracting, and therefore transmitting, the virus before those who have a higher risk of negative outcomes if they contact the virus if the spread is reasonably under control. Which in Bermuda it is.

        If the virus was running rampant with hundreds of infections each day, they would prioritize those with higher risk of negative outcomes (the elderly, people with compromised immune systems, etc.) because they have they have a worse change of survival if they became infected (which, is likely due to the hypothetical mass community spread).

        The best way to keep the elderly safe is to vaccinate those who have the higest chance to spread the virus (front line workers) and it stops the chain of infection from ever getting to the elderly in the first place.

        Imagine a asymptomatic student infects a teacher. The teacher is also asymptomatic and is in contact with 100+ students a day. If they infect even just 1 student, that student then return home and expose their entire household. The fathers drives an elderly neighbor to get groceries and infects him before he begins to feel sick. Elderly person dies.

        If you just vaccinate the teacher (who has a high chance of both contracting and spreading the virus) you save the elderly person because they were never exposed in the first place.

        • 100 percent BS says:

          No you are incorrect!!!! Stop spreading dangerous lies!!!

          Just because someone is vaccinated does NOT stop them from passing on the virus!!! It’s no different than the flu – I am vaccinated against it but I can still get it and pass it on!!

          The vaccination is NOT A CURE dumb a$$!

          Hopefully others will get the message that until there is a cure this virus will be a PERMANENT part of our survival plan!!!

      • Mitzi says:

        Does the stewardess say put your own mask first or does she say help the child with their mask. If you pass out who will take care of the weak and vunerable? Think!!!

  2. Santa Lucia says:

    Great news, we have to get back to normal. Thank you UK, I don’t see any other countries helping us.

    And for all you Independence supporters, I hope you appreciate what this does, and why we are getting it.

    And if you don’t…. back of the line!!

    • Andrew says:

      I would guess most of those in favour of independence also are anti vaccine, thinking Gates is injecting us all with tracking devices.

      • sage says:

        Cell phones are the tracking devices, no need for Bill to inject us with them.

      • Mixitup says:

        And you would blame them? Read your history and understand the damage done to the word “trust”

        • Mark says:

          Bet you will cut out of the Kool Aid line for your jab.

  3. Bermybud says:

    How can i obtain flu deaths from pervious years til now? Um not saying covid isnt real just trying to stop scratching my head! Something is telling me we have had none in 2020 and THAT to me is what is unreal! If we can test our plasma (blood) to see if humans have had covid we can surely test if we have got it! Your blood tells you everything whats good and bad in the human body! (Dont need a doctor tell me any different) I dont trust the PCR test! It has proven to give to many false positives not only in bermuda but globally! And governments are hell bent on using it make these rash decisions! Stop protecting a fature that had one to destroy one that doesnt!

  4. No to Independence after all! says:

    Thank you to the U.K. for sharing!

  5. Shawn says:

    Some Bermudian are all excited about the Government receiving the vaccine for the covid 19 but don’t ask the question, why these drug companies need protection from being sued from any side effects that their vaccine may cause. Things that should make you go hmm. Is the Government going to disclose the side effects to the public before administering it? Just asking.

    • bluenose says:

      Do you not think that those in the medical profession would be warning about the vaccines if they thought them dangerous?

  6. LoL says:

    Tell you what you take it first and Ill wait 10 years to see how your doing.

    • Unbelievable says:

      You take Tylenol when you have a headache?

      • Good. Luck says:

        Tylenol wasn’t made in 9 months. Vaccines are normally tested over 4 to 5 years . If you start glowing in 1 year you’ll save a fortune on electricity.

        • sandgrownan says:

          Factually incorrect.

          • Rob says:

            Shouldn’t you be in the USA supporting Trump and his cronies. I thought you dislike living in Bermuda under a Back Lives Matter government! If you understand history you would know that blacks were experimented on with the Tuskegee Experiment and the only President to come out and apologize for it was President Clinton. As the first real black loving President look what people with your same insane thinking did to him. Now run along and take some flowers to the obaubp RIP!

      • Lol says:

        That is just stupid tylenol has a long standing history to show its effects on people. And you have a choice to take it.

        Lol like I said you take it let me know what your medical position is in 10 years.

  7. NC says:

    We need an update on when the next batch(es) are expected – when and how many!

  8. trufth says:

    Are flights still going to be coming here from the UK? Level 5 lockdown.

  9. sandgrownan says:

    Factually incorrect.