Hinds says 'oh geed!' to Moonilal's vaccine 'guinea pig' claims

NATIONAL Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds and Finance Minister Colm Imbert on Sunday supported Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh's condemnation of UNC's Oropouche East MP Dr Roodal Moonilal's comments about Trinidad and Tobago soon receiving 100,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine from China. In a daily newspaper article on Saturday, Moonilal claimed the population could be used as "guinea pigs" for this vaccine and its efficacy was unknown.

In a tweet, Imbert said, "Recent claims by the UNC Opposition about the safety and efficacy of the Sinopharm covid19 vaccine are asinine. The Astrazenica and Pfizer vaccines have the same exact WHO approval status as Sinopharm. All these vaccines are approved by WHO (World Health Organization) for emergency use in the pandemic."

In a post on his Facebook page, Hinds said, "Roodal Moonilal, MP has again earned a chorus-like national response of 'Oh Geed!'”

Hinds asked, "What would prompt this evil spirit, who had his AstraZeneca vaccine, to try to scare other people away from getting theirs?"

Moonilal received his first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine via the Covax facility, at the Marabella Health Centre on April 24.

Hinds opined, "As KPB’s (Kamla Persad-Bissessar's) undermining, de facto successor in title, and as a senior parliamentary obstructionist; with an eye constantly over his left shoulder for police, this man spewed that we the people, who are justifiably eager to have their vaccine, that we have to careful of “being used in a guinea pig programme.”

He claimed Moonilal was "angrily responding to the great news that the WHO had given Emergency Use Listing (EUL) to the Beijing Sinopharm vaccine; and that arrangements would now be urgently settled for China to send 100,000 of them to us, as promised."

Hinds said, "We propose to purchase a large quantity as well. For the UNC, that is bad news."

He claimed that six weeks ago in Parliament, Moonilal cast aspersions against the efficacy of the Sinopharm vaccine.

"The information which easily dispels that rubbish is right there on the WHO’s website. The same vaccine that he took, was approved in the same process and given an EUL certification."

Hinds added this reinforces the view that "the UNC is as great a danger as covid19 to the people of Trinidad and Tobago."

In a statement on Saturday, Deyalsingh said,"The fact is the covid19 Sinopharm Beijing vaccine has undergone a rigorous WHO vaccine assessment, which included on-site inspections of the production facility prior to the WHO official approval of the Sinopharm Beijing vaccine for the EUL on May 7, 2021."

Deyalsingh said, "The WHO assessment is the same review process used for Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca covid19 vaccines, which all currently have EUL approval."

The minister reiterated that the Sinopharm Beijing vaccine has been authorised for use in 45 countries/jurisdictions and over 65 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine have been administered through various emergency use programmes. The promised 100,000 doses of the Sinopharm vaccine will be shipped from China to TT this week.