Virologist: Vaccines effective against covid19 variants

UWI professor of molecular genetics and virology Christine Carrington said on Monday that all the covid19 vaccines which Trinidad and Tobago has in stock and is expected to receive are safe, and provide effective protective against the virus and possible variants.

At the Health Ministry's virtual news conference, Carrington said the vaccines "remain extremely effective" even against these variants.

She said while there have been 1,200 different variations of covid19, most of these have not caused any change in the virus. Carrington reiterated that the only variants detected in TT are the UK and Brazilian variants.

She explained that the AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Johnson & Johnson vaccines have been proven effective against these variants. Carrington said this is supported by information on covid19 vaccinations in Brazil and the Seychelles.

She added that while all vaccines have side effects, most of them are mild.

Carrington also said, "Infection is not the same as disease."

She explained that not everyone infected with a virus becomes sick.