Deyalsingh: More covid19 vaccines should arrive by April/May

HEALTH Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said on Tuesday, the additional 77,000 of the 108,000 covid19 vaccine doses Trinidad and Tobago secured through Covax should arrive between the end of April and early May "all things being equal,".

He said the Government and its agencies are working very hard to secure more vaccines on several fronts.

Deyalsingh also said TT and other countries have to deal with a situation where some countries are even embargoing the export of vaccines to others.

Responding to a question in the Senate from Opposition Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial, Deyalsingh said when he and Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) head Dr Erica Wheeler spoke about TT receiving 100,000-120,000 vaccines, during the ministry's virtual health news conferences, "We were at pains to say, 'all things being equal.'"

Reiterating there is a "worldwide scramble for vaccines" and small countries are being disadvantaged in this process, he explained, "Because of the shortage of vaccines, Covax has made a decision and we have accepted this initial advance of 33,600 (doses)."

Deyalsingh added, "All things being equal again, I am told by Covax and PAHO we could expect the remainder of 77,000 (vaccines), sometime between the end of April/beginning of May."

He said the 33,000 vaccines "will see us through that period."

Apart from exploring initiatives with Covax and the African Union, where TT is registered as a purchaser for over 400,000 vaccines across three vaccine platforms (AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson), Deyalsingh said bilateral talks are ongoing with the governments of India, China, Germany, France and Canada for more vaccines.

"We are also exploring bilateral talks directly with Johnson and Johnson, Sinopharm and Bharat Biotech out of India."

Bigger countries where vaccine manufacturers' plants are located "are even embargoing vaccines." Deyalsingh said. "Italy has embargoed 400,000 AstraZeneca vaccines bound for Australia, and that is in the news."

Against that background, he reiterated, "The Government and all agencies are working very, very hard on this issue."

He also reiterated that phase one of the vaccine rollout will see people with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in "long-stay homes" being vaccinated first, with the limiting factor being the number of vaccines available.

Phase two, Deyalsingh continued, will see essential workers and people in the general population with NCDs being vaccinated.

He added most of the adult population will be vaccinated in phase three, again depending on the number of doses available.

Later in the sitting, Deyalsingh said there have been no fatalities in infants from multisystem inflammatory syndrome (Mis-C) in TT.

"As of March 9, 2021, there are no confirmed cases of Mis-C among infants in Tobago."

He said out of 29 suspected cases of Mis-C in the country, this was later confirmed as 21 cases, in Trinidad only, and he was happy to report that all of those 21 infants have since recovered and are doing well.

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