Health Minister: No deal with China

HEALTH MINISTER Terrence Deyalsingh on Saturday dismissed a claim by Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar that the Government was purchasing Pfizer and Sinopharm vaccines.

In a media release, Deyalsingh said there is a “misconception” that was created by Persad-Bissessar’s statement and he wanted to clarify it.

He said the Government signed a non-disclosure agreement with the vaccine manufacturers but that does not bind the Government to purchase vaccines from them.

“The non-disclosure agreement is a normal part of the procedure to facilitate negotiations and the placement of an indicative order of a covid19.”

In a Facebook post on Friday, the Opposition Leader stated: “Curiously, while (the Prime Minister) states that the government could not make deals with the multitude of vaccine manufacturers globally, it somehow has already signed a non-disclosure agreement with Sinopharm for the procurement of their vaccine.”

She at the time was referring to comments made by Dr Rowley during his public discussions “Conversations with the Prime Minister.”