Beautiful Virgin Islands

Thursday, Oct 30, 2025

BVI may be victim of its own success in COVID-19 fight

BVI may be victim of its own success in COVID-19 fight

The BVI’s prowess in managing the COVID-19 virus so far may lead to it becoming a victim of its own success, UK Healthcare Ambassador to the Overseas Territories, Professor Ian Cumming has indicated.

Through Professor Cumming’s visit, the BVI is receiving much-needed additional support in its vaccination efforts against the debilitating COVID-19 virus that has brought the local economy to a virtual standstill.

Speaking as a guest on the Honestly Speaking radio show on Tuesday, Professor Cumming said the BVI has done a good job — both on the health front and with its borders — in mitigating the spread of the virus in the territory.

However, Professor Cumming said persons in the territory have a low perception of the risk of the spread of COVID and the resulting illnesses that accompany that spread.

Alongside this concern, he said there is an inaccurate high perceived risk associated with taking the vaccine.

This can be seen particularly among persons who have declined to take the COVID-19 jab.

“We don’t want the virus to be what actually causes persons to take the vaccine,” Professor Cumming said.

Safer to have vaccine than to catch COVID-19


Cumming said while there is a slight risk with the vaccines, much like with many other things we do in healthcare, it is much safer to have the vaccine than to catch COVID.

He added that the BVI has also benefitted from a stroke of luck along the way. “It’s a combination of luck, good planning, and good management,” Cumming said.

The Professor pointed to places such as Anguilla, St Kitts & Nevis, Turks & Caicos, Bermuda, and Trinidad & Tobago. He drew a contrast to their recent outbreaks with the BVI’s experience with the pandemic so far.

“This disease can and does kill. I’ve seen it kill in Gibraltar where they had 60 or 70 people die in January or February when the virus got into the nursing and residential homes sector,” the Healthcare Ambassador said.

Chief Medical Officer, Dr Irad Potter said Professor Cumming’s visit will assist with providing more information and answering questions from residents, as needed, given the territory’s current situation with COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

More than 12,000 first doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine have been administered so far.

The BVI has experienced one death since the onset of the pandemic. As of June 7, there are three active cases, 295 recorded cases overall, and 291 recoveries.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
UK and Vietnam Sign Landmark Migration Deal to Fast-Track Returns of Irregular Arrivals
UK Drug-Pricing Overhaul Essential for Life-Sciences Ambition, Says GSK Chief
Princesses Beatrice and Eugenie Temporarily Leave the UK Amid Their Parents’ Royal Fallout
UK Weighs Early End to Oil and Gas Windfall Tax as Reeves Seeks Investment Commitments
UK Retail Inflation Slows as Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since Spring
Next Raises Full-Year Profit Guidance After Strong Third-Quarter Performance
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson Admits to 'Gaming' Benefits System While Advocating Crackdown
United States and South Korea Conclude Major Trade Accord Worth $350 Billion
Hurricane Melissa Strikes Cuba After Devastating Jamaica With Record Winds
Vice President Vance to Headline Turning Point USA Campus Event at Ole Miss
U.S. Targets Maritime Narco-Routes While Border Pressure to Mexico Remains Limited
Bill Gates at 70: “I Have a Real Fear of Artificial Intelligence – and Also Regret”
Elon Musk Unveils Grokipedia: An AI-Driven Alternative to Wikipedia
Saudi Arabia Unveils Vision for First-Ever "Sky Stadium" Suspended Over Desert Floor
Amazon Announces 14 000 Corporate Job Cuts as AI Investment Accelerates
UK Shop Prices Fall for First Time Since March, Food Leads the Decline
London Stock Exchange Group ADR (LNSTY) Earns Zacks Rank #1 Upgrade on Rising Earnings Outlook
Soap legend Tony Adams, long-time star of Crossroads, dies at 84
Rachel Reeves Signals Tax Increases Ahead of November Budget Amid £20-50 Billion Fiscal Gap
NatWest Past Gains of 314% Spotlight Opportunity — But Some Key Risks Remain
UK Launches ‘Golden Age’ of Nuclear with £38 Billion Sizewell C Approval
UK Announces £1.08 Billion Budget for Offshore Wind Auction to Boost 2030 Capacity
UK Seeks Steel Alliance with EU and US to Counter China’s Over-Capacity
UK Struggles to Balance China as Both Strategic Threat and Valued Trading Partner
Argentina’s Markets Surge as Milei’s Party Secures Major Win
British Journalist Sami Hamdi Detained by U.S. Authorities After Visa Revocation Amid Israel-Gaza Commentary
King Charles Unveils UK’s First LGBT+ Armed Forces Memorial at National Memorial Arboretum
At ninety-two and re-elected: Paul Biya secures eighth term in Cameroon amid unrest
Racist Incidents Against UK Nurses Surge by 55%
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves Cites Shared Concerns With Trump Administration as Foundation for Early US-UK Trade Deal
Essentra plc: A Closer Look at a UK ‘Penny Stock’ Opportunity Amid Market Weakness
U.S. and China Near Deal to Avert Rare-Earth Export Controls Ahead of Trump-Xi Summit
Justin time: Justin Herbert Shields Madison Beer with Impressive Reflex at Lakers Game
Russia’s President Putin Declares Burevestnik Nuclear Cruise Missile Ready for Deployment
Giuffre’s Memoir Alleges Maxwell Claimed Sexual Act with Clooney
House Republicans Move to Strip NYC Mayoral Front-Runner Zohran Mamdani of U.S. Citizenship
Record-High Spoiled Ballots Signal Voter Discontent in Ireland’s 2025 Presidential Election
Philippines’ Taal Volcano Erupts Overnight with 2.4 km Ash Plume
Albania’s Virtual AI 'Minister' Diella Set to 'Birth' Eighty-Three Digital Assistants for MPs
Tesla Unveils Vision for Optimus V3 as ‘Biggest Product of All Time’, Including Surgical Capabilities
Francis Ford Coppola Auctions Luxury Watches After Self-Financed Film Flop
Convicted Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed by UK Prison Service Arrested in London
United States and China Begin Constructive Trade Negotiations Ahead of Trump–Xi Summit
U.S. Treasury Sanctions Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro over Drug-Trafficking Allegations
Miss USA Crowns Nebraska’s Audrey Eckert Amid Leadership Overhaul
‘I Am Not Done’: Kamala Harris Signals Possible 2028 White House Run
NBA Faces Integrity Crisis After Mass Arrests in Gambling Scandal
Swift Heist at the Louvre Sees Eight French Crown Jewels Stolen in Under Seven Minutes
U.S. Halts Trade Talks with Canada After Ontario Ad Using Reagan Voice Triggers Diplomatic Fallout
Microsoft AI CEO: ‘We’re making an AI that you can trust your kids to use’ — but can Microsoft rebuild its own trust before fixing the industry’s?
×