Surveillance systems in place ahead of thousands arriving for World Cup

Health authorities have implemented robust measures to safeguard the island against potential disease outbreaks ahead of the T20 Cricket World Cup, which is set to welcome thousands of visitors in the coming weeks, the country’s chief medical officer has assured.

And the island’s top doctor has declared the COVID-19 pandemic that killed 650 Barbadians from more 100 000 cases is effectively over and the Ministry of Health has stopped vaccinating citizens.  

In an exclusive interview with Barbados TODAY on Monday, Dr Kenneth George said: “We have put surveillance systems in place. We have trained several persons not particularly in public health with respect to managing unusual outbreaks.”

With tourists expected from both traditional and non-traditional markets, Dr George highlighted the government’s concerns regarding certain non-COVID diseases.

“There are other diseases of public health concern which we are monitoring,” he said. “We have made sure that our Barbados Drug Service has the appropriate drugs
available for the treatment of any cases of tuberculosis, malaria…because, when people travel, they travel sometimes with the disease.”

Despite the anticipated influx of foreign visitors during the prestigious tournament, the chief medical advisor expressed optimism about the public health situation. 

He said the outlook for the World Cup “is good”. 

“I don’t expect any major outbreak of any serious disease,” he said, emphasising the importance of proper food handling practices “to protect the food source for Barbadians and visitors alike”.

In a new development, Dr George reported that while “a few” COVID-19 cases emerge occasionally, there is currently “no active” vaccine programme related to the virus. 

“We haven’t given AstraZeneca vaccine for about 18 months. There has been no AstraZeneca vaccine on the market in Barbados for a while. The COVID pandemic is over…we still get a few cases, and there is no active vaccine in Barbados for COVID at the moment.”  

This revelation comes after AstraZeneca’s decision to withdraw its COVID-19 vaccine from further production, citing a shift in demand towards newer, updated vaccines due to the emergence of new variants. 

While the vaccine was estimated to have saved millions of lives from more than three billion doses, it has also been liked to rare, and sometimes fatal, blood clots.

Addressing the unavailability of COVID-19 vaccines in Barbados, Dr George explained: “We are not vaccinating people. The reason is that vaccines are very expensive, and the smaller markets were traditionally shut out. We had gotten a few offers of vaccine, but the vaccines were too close to the expiratory date; and we took a decision that we are not going to take vaccines from countries that wanted to offer vaccines to Barbados.”

The chief medical officer reiterated the ministry’s stance on administering only efficacious vaccines to Barbadians, considering factors such as expiry dates. 

“There are no [COVID] vaccines available in Barbados, period,” he declared.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb