Private sector begins vaccination drive

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said government will be working with the private sector in the coming weeks to rollout covid19 vaccines for hundreds or workers.

At the Prime Minister’s media conference on Saturday Deyalsingh outlined distribution to the private sector based on the vaccines currently in stock.

He said the intention and initiative was “vaccinate to operate” as more vaccines become available.

“We have currently 144,200 Oxford AstraZenca vaccines in stock and we expect another 33,600, that would take us up to a committed amount of 177,800 doses.

“It means therefore we can vaccinate 88,900 people by mid-July. The second dose of AstraZenca delivery starts on Monday,” Deyalsingh said.

He added that the 100,000 Sinopharm doses will be able to vaccinate 50,000 people.

He said, “With these two initiatives we would be able to vaccinate fully 138,900 people by July. That (figure) will change with each new shipment of vaccines that we get.”

Deyalsingh added that mass vaccination sites will be set up and managed by the Ministry of Health (MoH) in collaboration with the private sector.

He noted that they were also in talks with the private security and food and beverage industries about vaccine allocation.

SATT president in a media release on Saturday evening said the Sinopharm vaccine was made available for immediate administration to employees.

“This joint SATT-MoH initiative will also be extended for pharmacists in the private sector in an effort to extend the scope of coverage,” the release said.

SATT’s inoculation process will begin on June 8 at Centre Point Mall auditorium in Chaguanas.

On Sunday, the TT Manufacturers Association begins their vaccination rollout at the Divali Nagar Site in Chaguanas.

President of the TT Contractors Association Glen Mahabirsingh said they were working with UDeCOTT to finalise their vaccination drive but it has been tentatively set for late next week.

Vaccine allocation

Supermarket’s Association – 4,000 doses

Pharmacy Association – 1,000 doses

Construction industry – 5,000 doses

TT Manufacturer’s Association – 5,000 doses