Private sector still willing to help acquire vaccines

THE private sector remains committed to helping the Government acquire covid19 vaccines for the population. Supermarkets Association of TT president Rajiv Diptee made this comment on Thursday.

On March 23, in the Senate, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said he was working with Diptee and Ansa McAl Group CEO Anthony Sabga III to procure safe World Health Organization (WHO)-approved vaccines for Trinidad and Tobago.

Deyalsingh said, "We assure the public that if and when there is a viable outcome, we will alert the public."

Diptee said, "The latest correspondence received from the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health requires us to describe whom is our WHO-approved supplier of the vaccine, the agent responsible for acquisition and the administration of vaccines."

The Prime Minister has said the Government will only procure WHO-approved vaccines and it is difficult to procure these vaccines. Diptee agreed with Dr Rowley's view that at present there is "a bear market" for vaccines.

He said, " Crisis proportions in India and Brazil have diverted any spare or excess capacity to those ravaged nations where they are urgently required."

Notwithstanding this, Diptee said this is not stopping efforts to source WHO-approved vaccines for the population.

"There is a very detailed deployment plan already laid out for on the ground logistics in terms of receiving, distributing and administering vaccines, all relevant protocols observed.

"We also note the Prime Minister's appetite for collaborative private-sector involvement, as this is an indication to us there can be a strategy for a parallel vaccination programme."

He said vaccine success is no indicator of economic success, but the two were "deeply intertwined to give any prescription of hope to our nation."

On March 25, at a virtual meeting, Ansa McAl Group chairman A Norman Sabga said the group is still trying to source vaccines. Newsday was reliably informed those efforts are continuing.

Representatives of three other private-sector groups, speaking on condition of anonymity, said their respective groups are seeking to acquire vaccines.

In a statement on March 22, the group said in response to a request from the Government, it had offered to buy 351,000 Pfizer vaccines at a cost of US$8.4 million for distribution to the public.

The group said at meeting on February 17 between the Health Ministry and private-sector representatives, the latter were asked to help the Government to acquire vaccines for public use. The group said Government arranged to buy the vaccines directly from Pfizer Inc and had to confirm the order the next day or lose them.

The group offered to cover the entire cost of the order and asked the Government in return to allocate enough foreign exchange for it to pay for the vaccines.

At a subsequent Conversations with the Prime Minister event in March, Rowley said he did not agree with the terms of the offer, which included a request for access to US$8 million. Deyalsingh subsequently said Government had the money to pay for the vaccines.

The Prime Minister refused to consider tax credits for private-sector entities buying vaccines for free public distribution, another condition of the offer.