Government: No tardiness in procuring covid19 vaccines

THE Government on Friday said claims made in an article and an editorial opinion published by one daily newspaper, about the procurement of covid19 vaccines for Trinidad and Tobago are wrong.

A statement issued by the Foreign and Caricom Affairs Ministry said the Prime Minister has "repeatedly, emphatically and correctly stated that we will only offer to the public, vaccines that are approved by the World Health Organization (WHO)."

The ministry continued, "If we offered unapproved vaccines and persons became ill or died as a result, the same editorial spaces that were casting doubt on the need for approval would be very unlikely to refrain from condemnation of the Government."

The ministry said the newspaper's claim that TT's decision to wait on "validation" from the WHO before exploring India's AstraZeneca option "seems unnecessary" was an unfortunate statement. The ministry also described repeated and consequent references to "lateness" and "tardiness" to acquire an Indian-made covid19 vaccine by the newspaper in its article and editorial as unfortunate.

"The reality is that a fundamental criterion of our public health sector for the provision of any vaccines to our national population is the approval of such vaccines by the WHO." The ministry explained, "Such approval is deemed by our public health experts as essential to ensure that the administered vaccines are both safe and effective."

Public health officials, the ministry continued, have also considered significant scepticism to the new covid19 vaccines by some members of the public. "This further underscores the importance of utilising properly authorised vaccines."

The ministry said, "It is a matter of public record that the AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine that is manufactured by the Serum Institute of India only achieved approval onto the WHO's EUL on Monday February 15, 2021, which was literally this week." The ministry added, "Therefore, any immediate steps taken by the Government of TT upon such approval should be regarded not as "tardy" but rather as proper, prompt, and responsibly-conducted."

Last September, the ministry said Government formally signed the commitment agreement with Covax toward the acquisition of up to 900,000 doses of approved covid19 vaccines "for our population during the year 2021." The ministry added, "We have also been in consistent bilateral dialogue with the actual manufacturers of the range of available vaccines since then, commencing in October 2020 and based on the fundamental criterion of WHO approval."

The ministry reiterated Government's full commitment "to administering only vaccines that are approved as safe and efficacious as part of our national response to the covid19 pandemic. We will continue to be guided by the Ministry of Health's public health experts with regard to the selection and timing of any purchases of new vaccines. The population can remain assured that the best decisions are being taken in the interest of the safety and health of the nation."