Health
COVID Vaccine 90 per cent effective at keeping you alive says Hospitals CEO
#TurksandCaicos, August 27, 2021 – The wall of defence which approved vaccines had given to their takers has been compromised, significantly. Health agencies around the world continue to warn that the efficacy of Covid-19 vaccines has been cut down, 30 to 60 per cent since the emergence and insurgence of the delta strain of the coronavirus. While the continually changing facts about the virus and the vaccine have caused a boom in uptake, it has also resulted in increased skepticism about the integrity of information.
Doctors speaking to the Turks and Caicos general public however advise waiting or rejecting the vaccine is a dangerous posture to take.
Dr. Denise Braithwaite Tennant, CEO of the TCI hospitals was, on Wednesday night during a press conference, adamant that the vaccine still holds up with an 88 per cent rate of keeping you out of hospital and an over 90 per cent rate of keeping you from dying as a result of this fittest and fastest mutation.
“Fifty-six per cent of those patients required high-flow oxygen to care for them along with our other therapies and 44 per cent required use of the ventilator. That is high.”
The Turks and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG) still struggles to reach its initial target of a 70 per cent vaccination rate, on the way to herd immunity of 85 per cent. The marks are missed as vaccine interest has waned.
“Despite the accessibility of the vaccine throughout the country to residents, including 12 to 15 year olds the pace of the vaccine roll out has significantly slowed in recent weeks despite our best efforts. An analysis of the data captured in our electronic immunisation register highlights that approximately 35.8 per cent of 16-24 years age group, 39.4 per cent having received at least one dose of the Covid-19 vaccine,” said Dr. Nadia Astwood, TCI Chief Medical Officer (CMO).
The CMO informed this group is concerning as the youth are more likely to flout health protocols like mask wearing and are the ones populating social gatherings. The CMO believes the high un-vaccinated rate has the potential to hurt a return to face-to-face learning at school.
“Persons in this age group need to come forward and be vaccinated to protect themselves as well as vulnerable persons who may be in contact with them.”
Dr. Braithwaite Tenant shared demographics of some of the more recent hospital cases including 60 per cent being under 60 years old, 70 per cent being women and 70 per cent having pre-existing conditions like hypertension, type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Turks and Caicos hospitals has been supported by Government in a temporary human resource solution, as it struggles to identify long-term medical staff.
“We have the continued support of the Cuban brigade with us, which helps us with our buffer supply. We have had progressive recruitment of our nurses to hire. We’ve been in Canada, the UK however we have aggressive ongoing recruitment to replace these vacancies.”
The motivation for her passionate plea for residents to get vaccinated emerged from health report on the current situation in Turks and Caicos amidst what was confirmed as the “third wave” of the coronavirus. Knowledge shared about the herculean task to get TCI residents to medical treatment abroad coupled with an over capacity Providenciales medical facility are hoped to move more people to get the jab.
“I would like to thank the team at the National Health Insurance Board , who worked around the clock, under challenging circumstances to find ICU care and ICU beds for our patients when the hospitals in their networks were themselves, experiencing their own demands to provide care to their community,” she said as more light is now being shed on the chronic threat which exists to the Medical Treatment Abroad Program.
Dr. Denise Braithwaite-Tenant, informed her main facility is at 105 per cent capacity and while the majority of the beds are not taken up by Covid 19 patients, they are still full.
“You can see that during this pandemic with its peaks and troughs, bed capacity is often challenged as a result of the increased hospitalisations and surges. It’s very important that you are aware and kept abreast because I hope this information will help you to make a decision about the Covid-19 vaccine and the importance it plays – as Dr. Astwood mentioned earlier – in the reduction of hospitalisations and the saving of lives to protect our small, but very hearty health care system and hospital.” said Dr. Braithwaite-Tenant.
The Cheshire Hall Medical Centre (CHMC) located in Providenciales is a 20-bed facility; currently 21 of those beds were, up to Wednesday, occupied. The Cockburn Town Medical Centre (CTMC) in Grand Turk is a 10 bed facility; 90 per cent of capacity is currently in use. Both centres have sufficient oxygen supply, using the newly installed oxygen generation system which has been a major stride in TCI health care.
“However, we do have our expansion beds available both in our day room and our outpatient; extra beds have already been pre-deployed and they are available,” she said about the Providenciales hospital.
One of three COVID patients at the CHMC had to be medically evacuated; the remaining patients were undergoing oxygen and other therapies. As many as eight have had to be put on ventilator, 56 per cent of the COVID patients have needed high flow oxygen and 70 per cent of those hospitalised with the coronavirus have been women.
Turks and Caicos is now with 69 active cases, nine of them new and all of those were identified in Providenciales. There are two people hospitalised for the virus.
(Providenciales – Monday, March 2, 2026) TCI Hospital proudly announces the successful achievement of its Heart Strong TCI initiative, a comprehensive Heart Month campaign focused on raising awareness and strengthening cardiovascular disease prevention efforts across the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the Turks and Caicos Islands, highlighting the critical need for sustained public education, risk-factor reduction, and early intervention. The Heart Strong TCI initiative was designed to actively engage the community through education, outreach, and physical activity.
Key Activities Included:
Educational Training Sessions
Healthcare professionals conducted structured sessions addressing hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol management, nutrition, exercise, smoking cessation, and the early warning signs of heart disease.
House Call Talk Show Feature
A dedicated Heart Month episode of the hospital’s House Call program provided expert discussion on cardiovascular risk factors and prevention strategies, empowering viewers with practical, evidence-based guidance.
Red Fridays Awareness Campaign
Throughout the month, staff wore red every Friday to increase visibility around heart disease awareness and reinforce the campaign’s message within the community.
Heart Strong 5K Walk/Run
In collaboration with the Rotary Club, TCI Hospital hosted a community-wide 5K walk/run to promote physical activity as a cornerstone of
heart health. The walk/run also provided an opportunity for community screening.
Digital Health Education Campaign
To expand its reach, TCI Hospital also shared ongoing heart health education tips and prevention messages across its social media platforms, including Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. These posts provided actionable guidance on diet, exercise, blood pressure control, and lifestyle modification, and encouraging community members to learn CPR.
Heart Strong TCI: A Continuous Commitment
While Heart Month has officially ended, Heart Strong TCI represents an ongoing institutional commitment to cardiovascular disease prevention and awareness. TCI Hospital will continue to prioritize:
- Community-based education initiatives
- Preventative screening and early detection programs
- Lifestyle and wellness promotion
- Strategic partnerships that advance public health outcomes
“Heart Strong TCI is not limited to a single month,” CEO, Dr. Denise Braithwaite-Tennant. “Cardiovascular disease prevention requires sustained effort. We remain committed to promoting healthy hearts across the Turks and Caicos Islands year-round.”
For more information about cardiovascular health services or upcoming screening initiatives, please contact TCI Hospital at 649-941-2800 in Providenciales, 649-941-2900 in Grand Turk or email us at info@interhealthcanada.tc
About TCI Hospital
TCI Hospital is dedicated to delivering high-quality healthcare services to the people of the Turks and Caicos Islands, with a strong emphasis on prevention, education, and community wellness.
February is National Self- Check Month and family medicine physician at Cleveland Clinic, OH, John Hanicak, MD, highlights why at home self-checks are extremely important when it comes to not just early cancer detection but identifying other illnesses too and offers tips on what to look out for.
“Sometimes I look at them as sort of like your check engine light on the car, just like there would be a red flashing light that tells you that
there’s something wrong with a car and prompts you to bring that in and get serviced. Your body does the same thing. It gives you warning signs to look into that symptom a little bit further,” said Hanicak.
Dr. Hanicak said self-checks are going to be a little different for everyone.
However, in general, he recommends looking for anything that may seem abnormal, such as unexplained weight loss, blood in your urine, bumps and bruises that won’t heal, and changes in bowel habits.
For example, if you suddenly start going to the bathroom a lot more than you used to, that could be a sign of something more serious.
He also suggests doing regular skin checks and documenting any moles or spots that start to look different.
“Realize that you are your own person. There’s nobody else in the world exactly like you. You’ve got your own set of ideas, your own family history and your own genetics. Know what is normal for you, and when that changes, that’s the kind of thing that we would be interested in talking about,” said Dr. Hanicak.
Dr. Hanicak notes that self-checks are not meant to replace cancer screenings, as those are just as important to keep up with.
Press Release: Cleveland Clinic
December 4, 2025 – Hollywood legend Bruce Willis – arguably the most famous former home owner in Turks and Caicos Islands – is facing the most difficult role of his life and turning it into one last act of service.
Willis, 70, retired from acting in 2022 after his family revealed he had been diagnosed with aphasia. The following year, specialists
confirmed he is living with frontotemporal dementia (FTD), a degenerative brain disease that attacks language, behaviour and personality.
In recent interviews and appearances, his wife Emma Heming Willis has said Bruce is “surrounded by love and care” and that the family is learning to find joy in new ways, even as the disease progresses.
Now, Heming Willis has gone further. In her 2025 memoir The Unexpected Journey, she writes that the family has decided Bruce’s brain will be donated to science after his death to advance research into FTD. That decision has been highlighted in recent coverage by futurist and science outlets, which describe it as a carefully considered step after months of watching a still-physically-strong man steadily lose speech, reading and independence.
Neurologists have long stressed how rare donated brain tissue is for FTD, and how essential it is to understanding which proteins, mutations and mechanisms are actually driving the disease. The Willis family’s choice means the brain that powered some of cinema’s most iconic characters could one day help researchers diagnose the condition earlier and design better treatments – even if it cannot help Bruce himself.
For Turks and Caicos, the story lands close to home. For nearly two decades Willis owned “The Residence” on exclusive Parrot Cay – a 7.3-acre, Asian-inspired beachfront compound with a five-bedroom main house, two guest villas and a yoga pavilion. He and Emma listed the estate in March 2019 for US$33 million; it sold a few months later for about US$27 million, one of the biggest residential deals in TCI history.
So, while Bruce Willis no longer has a physical address in Turks and Caicos, his connection to these islands remains part of his global story – a story now shifting from blockbuster fame to medical legacy, as his family turns private heartbreak into a public contribution that could change what we know about dementia.
Developed by Deandrea Hamilton • with ChatGPT (AI) • edited by Magnetic Media.
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