Sinopharm vaccines arrive in Trinidad and Tobago

The promised 100,000 doses of the WHO-approved Sinopharm vaccine arrived in Trinidad and Tobago at 1.09 am on Wednesday.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh was on hand to receive the vaccines, a gift from the Chinese government.

The government of China agreed to donate the vaccines after a conversation between the Prime Minister and China's President Xi Jinping on March 16. The agreement depended on the WHO's approving this vaccine, which happened on May 7. The vaccines were manufactured by the Beijing Institute of Biological Products Co.

In a Facebook post, Chinese ambassador Fang Qiu thanked the airlines and others who assisted with the delivery.

“Thanks go to Hainan Airlines, Caribbean Airlines and CAINIAO for their concerted efforts enabling this safe and swift delivery. CAINIAO, a tech-driven global logistics solutions provider in China, also offered the innovative real-time temperature monitoring service. I believe new models of China-TT partnership like this will generate enormous impetus to post-covid recovery.”

Deyalsingh said vaccination with the Sinopharm vaccines would begin on Friday.

He has said TT is also negotiating to buy further Sinopharm vaccines.

In a release, Caribbean Airlines Ltd (CAL) said the Sinopharm vaccines were transported through its Cargo arm.

“The temperature-sensitive shipment was moved from Bejing to Trinidad connecting in Toronto through the airline’s cargo charter service. Caribbean Airlines collaborated with Hainan Airlines which carried the shipment to Toronto where it was transferred to the Caribbean Airlines Boeing 737 aircraft.”

CAL general manager, cargo and new business, Marklan Moseley said, “Caribbean Airlines continues to contribute to the region’s covid19 recovery efforts through our expertise in transporting time-sensitive shipments. We remain committed to our critical role in the fight against the pandemic and are ready to assist with the massive distribution of vaccines throughout the Caribbean as vaccines become available.”

CAL said the cargo charter service comes a year after the carrier flew its inaugural cargo charter, transporting covid19 relief supplies. It said since March 2021, CAL Cargo has shipped a substantial number of covid19 vaccines to the Caribbean, moving shipments to Guyana, Barbados and Dominica.

The carrier said it has has been supporting the region throughout the pandemic by shipping personal protective equipment (PPE) and covid19 test kits to 16 Caribbean countries.