Caroni East MP tells Deyalsingh: ‘Look at the science on covid19

Caroni East MP Dr Rishad Seecharan is urging Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh to “look to science” before making predictions that a “safe, effective and available vaccine may release us from the grip of covid19.”

He noted the first vaccine safety trials began in March and ten of those have reached its final stages of testing.

But he said, “The US Food and Drug Administration told coronavirus vaccine developers it wants at least two months of safety data before authorizing emergency use, a requirement that would likely push any US vaccine availability till December 2020, for the earliest.

The question is, will there be enough vaccines, in the tune of billions of doses to be able to give equitable distribution of vaccines throughout the world?”

He said the UNC acknowledges TT’s down payment towards its share of the COVAX facility, “a mechanism designed to guarantee rapid, fair and equitable access to covid19 vaccines worldwide, is a positive step.”

But, he said, “The down payment is based on vaccinating 20 per cent of the population, of whom three per cent will healthcare and frontline workers, and the remaining 17 per cent being people 60 and older and adults with underlying conditions and co-morbidities.”

He said while this is a positive step, it will be unable to move TT to the status of “herd immunity.”

“With herd immunity, the vast majority of a population are vaccinated, lowering the overall amount of virus able to spread in the whole population.

As a result, not every single person needs to be vaccinated to be protected, which helps ensure vulnerable groups who cannot get vaccinated are kept safe.”

He said while TT may not completely eliminate the virus, it is possible to bring it to a very low level.

“…with the adoption of nationwide non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as personal protective measures, environmental measures and physical distancing measures.

“No one is safe, until everyone is safe. I want to be clear: both individual behavioural changes and policy interventions are required. Every single citizen has a role to play in helping to prevent the spread.”