[UPDATED] Health Ministry targets 30,000 people as vaccinations restart Monday

Scores of people wait to be vaccinated at Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain on April 25. Government resumes the vaccination programme on Monday. - PHOTO BY ROGER JACOB
Scores of people wait to be vaccinated at Queen's Park Savannah, Port of Spain on April 25. Government resumes the vaccination programme on Monday. - PHOTO BY ROGER JACOB

The Ministry of Health will restart the country’s vaccination programme on Monday with the hopes of giving 20,000 to 30,000 more people their first shot of AstraZeneca.

Speaking at a press conference in Tobago on Thursday afternoon PM Rowley announced that all the vaccines currently available would be used instead of being reserved for the second shot.

He said the vaccines that would be used for people’s second shot would come via Italy while pointing out that Italy had earlier banned the export of AstraZeneca vaccines.

At the ministry’s virtual press conference on Saturday morning, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said people’s second dose would be administered when the second and third tranches of vaccines from the Covax Facility arrive in TT. He said approximately 33,600 are expected to arrive in early May, and the third tranche in June.

TT has already received 75,600 vaccines. Two thousand were a gift from Barbados, 33,600 from the Covax Facility, and 40,000 from the Serum Institute of India (SII).

Deyalsingh explained each batch had extra doses of ten to 15 per cent, taking the total doses to around 83,000 to 87,000. Approximately 42,000 people have already been vaccinated, leaving a remainder of about 37,000 doses of SII vaccines. Some of the extra doses had already been used.

He announced there would be 29 vaccination sites, including one mass vaccination site in each regional health authority (RHA) in Trinidad. There will be five vaccination sites in the Eastern RHA, six in the North Central RHA, five in North West RHA, ten in South West RHA, and three in Tobago RHA.

All vaccinations would be done by appointment, which could be made via telephone or WhatsApp. Deyalsingh encouraged people to only message once, rather than multiple numbers, and they would eventually be contacted. He also asked that people turn up for their appointments.

During this phase, people over 60 without non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and those between 18 and 60 with NCDs, including asthma, are encouraged to make appointments.

“What we ask is that you walk with some proof that you are in fact an NCD patient – a letter from your doctor stating that you are asthmatic, diabetic, walk with your medication in your name, some kind of proof that you are in fact under 60 with an NCD.”

He said the aim was to vaccinate 1,500 to 2,000 people per day.

“We are doing all of this so the maximum number of persons could have their first shot, because the number of covid positive cases that we are getting now demand that we not keep that 40,000 in reserve for a months, two months. It demands that we change our strategy and we have to respond.”

Chief Medical Officer Dr Rohan Sinanan advised anyone having adverse symptoms after taking the vaccine to call 877-WELL (9355), visit a health centre, or get in contact with their doctor.

He said clinicians at public health facilities were well-trained to deal with the usual side effects of vaccinations, and systems and training were in place to deal with allergic reactions. In addition, the ministry circulated UK guidelines for vaccine-induced immune thrombotic thrombocytopenia (VITT) to clinicians so that know how to deal with that rare complication.

Deyalsingh indicated that those in elderly homes had yet to receive their vaccines. However, Dr Rohit Doon, adviser of health promotion communications and public health, was working with the TT Residential Care Association to go into the facilities to vaccinate those for whom consent was given.

He said vaccination would be done “selectively and cautiously.” He said people in homes were “in the sunset of their lives” and asked the media not to jump to conclusions if someone died after being vaccinated.

“Persons in homes are severely immunocompromised. They are very aged and very old. When we start to vaccinate them, and Dr Doon is working on that, and you have an inevitable passing of an elderly person, I hope you don’t jump to the conclusion, as we did two to three weeks ago, in the face of no evidence... that it was due to the vaccine”

For those with mental health conditions, he said informed consent was also necessary and the ministry was looking at the policy positions of other countries.

Vaccination sites

Eastern Regional Health Authority

Toco Health Facility

Mayaro District Health Facility

Rio Claro Health Centre

Sangre Grande Enhanced Health Centre

Mass vaccination site – National Racquet Sports Centre

North Central Regional Health Authority

Arima District Health Facility

Chaguanas District Health Facility

La Horquetta Health Centre

St Helena Health Centre

St Joseph Enhanced Health Centre

Mass site – UTT Campus, Charlieville, Chaguanas

North West Regional Health Authority

Barataria Health Centre

Carenage Health Centre

Diego Martin Health Centre

Morvant Health Centre

Mass site – The Paddock at the Queen's Park Savannah

South West Regional Health Authority

Couva District Health Facility

Freeport Health Centre

La Romaine Health Centre

Marabella Health Centre

Point Fortin Health Centre

Princes Town District Health Facility

Siparia District Health Facility

Ste Madeleine Health Centre

South Oropouche Health Centre

Mass site – Southern Academy for the Performing Arts, San Fernando

Tobago Regional Health Authority

Canaan/ Bon Accord Health Centre

Roxborough Health Centre

Scarborough Health Centre

This story has been updated with additional details. Below is the original publication.

The Ministry of Health will restart the country’s vaccination programme on Monday with the hopes of giving 20,000 to 30,000 more people their first shot of AstraZeneca.

At the ministry’s virtual press conference on Saturday morning, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said people’s second dose would be administered when the second and third tranche of vaccines from the Covax Facility arrive in TT. He said approximately 33,600 are expected to arrive in early May, and the third tranche in June.

TT has already received 75,600 vaccines. Two thousand were a gift from Barbados, 33,600 from the Covax Facility, and 40,000 from the Serum Institute of India (SII).

He explained each batch had extra doses of ten to 15 per cent, taking the total number of doses to around 83,000 to 87,000. Approximately 42,000 people have already been vaccinated, leaving a remainder of about 37,000 doses of SII vaccines. Some of the extra doses had already been used.

He announced there would be 29 vaccination sites, including one mass vaccination site in each regional health authority (RHA) in Trinidad. There will be five vaccination sites in the Eastern RHA, six in the North Central RHA, five in North West RHA, ten in South West RHA, and three in Tobago RHA.

Speaking at a press conference in Tobago on Thursday afternoon, the Prime Minister announced that all the available vaccines would be used instead of being reserved for the second shot.

He said the vaccines that would be used for the second shot would come via Italy while pointing out that Italy had earlier banned the export of AstraZeneca vaccines.

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"[UPDATED] Health Ministry targets 30,000 people as vaccinations restart Monday"

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