Minister on covid19 vaccine: safety trumps haste

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh -
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh -

Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh said he knows people are anxious to get the covid19 vaccine, but safety must trump expediency.

Deyalsingh was speaking at his ministry’s virtual press conference on Monday.

He said he noted commentators and certain opposition leaders have pointed out other countries which have started their vaccination rollout.

But, he said, “We have said from day one that TT, as per protocol, will only allow vaccines approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).

“Many countries that have started vaccination programmes, as it their right as sovereign states, are using non-WHO-approved vaccines and we could have no problem with that. (But) TT will only be using WHO-approved vaccines.”

He said the vaccination programme used by the ministry for over 50 years has been successful.

“One of the key success factors is trust in the vaccine. This tried and proven method of using WHO-approved vaccines has served us well. I am confident that once we start to vaccinate people, it will be successful.”

He said WHO approved not only vaccines but sites of manufacture.

“AstraZeneca (the vaccine TT will be receiving) is being manufactured in many sites. WHO only approved two under Covax.”

Those sites are the Serum Institute of India and SK Bio in South Korea. TT will be receiving the AstraZeneca vaccine from South Korea by the end of the month, he said.

But, he added, "I could source AstraZeneca today from plants around the world.”

Deyalsingh said some European countries had to suspend the use of the vaccine because of issues with certain batches. “Could you imagine if I bring in any vaccine and similar concerns were raised locally?”

Deyalsingh said there have been several constraints, including the number of vaccines approved by WHO and when they were approved. He said the Pfizer vaccine, not originally part of Covax, was approved in December of last year. AstraZeneca received approval on February 15, and the Johnson and Johnson vaccine was only approved on March 12.

Once the government has received the vaccines from Covax, he said, the vaccination plan will be rolled out, starting with people with high risk and high exposure.

He said he visited the storage facility being built in Couva on Saturday and construction is complete.

“Now we have the capacity to store 1.4 million doses of the vaccine.”

He said the ministry also has a million syringes in stock, and another million coming in April. There are a million alcohol swabs in stock and 40,000 additional vaccination cards have been printed in preparation for the rollout.

Deyalsingh said the ministry has already begun sensitising those who will be distributing the vaccines and is engaging more personnel.

Comments

"Minister on covid19 vaccine: safety trumps haste"

More in this section