Govt expands vaccination rollout to business, social sectors

The Ministry of Health plans to open up vaccination to all health centres in mid-July, as well as expanding vaccinations by business and social sectors when Trinidad and Tobago gets more vaccines.

At a press conference at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the plans were to accommodate the vaccination of 300,000 people in the shortest possible time frame.

“Assuming we get vaccines in large enough numbers, we are now going to move to all 109 health centres throughout TT to make access much easier. One hundred thousand has been allocated for that in the first instance.”

Groups include Tobago, the Unemployment Relief and Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programmes, the prison population, public transport, agriculture, the Ministry of Education, and other ministries.

The supermarket, pharmacy, manufacturing, construction, and banking sectors will receive additional allocations of vaccines. The food and beverage sector, janitorial companies, tertiary institutions, religious leaders, funeral homes, the diabetes association and coalition on NCDs, as well as special groups such as the blind, deaf, and those with autism and cerebral palsy would also be allocated vaccines.

To vaccinate people in these sectors, six new mass vaccination sites would be added to the two at the Divali Nagar and the Super Market Association. Rotary Clubs would help man the sites and the TT Chamber of Commerce would get businesses to adopt a site.

“They would help us with matters like IT (information technology), data entry and so on. What we would do is provide the vaccines, provided all the consumables, the vaccination cards and so on.”

The new sites include the Diego Martin Sporting Complex, the National Academy for the Performing Arts, UTT Corinth Campus, Penal Power Generation Facility, Couva/Pt Lisas Chamber of Commerce building in Couva, and one to be confirmed in Tunapuna.

He added that 64 “sentinel physicians” would receive 15,000 vaccines to administer to private patients free of charge.

“These are private practitioners who work with the Ministry of Health to monitor and administer vaccines in our current vaccination drive whether it’s for flu, MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella) or whatever. There are private physicians, about seven per county, so between the 109 health centres and these 64 sentinel physicians in the private sector, we are allocating about 15,000 to these 64.”

Deyalsingh added that, of Friday night 219,763 people got their first shot, and 105,586 got their second.

He said there were about 16,600 health care workers in the public sector but only 8,861 were vaccinated. The ministry would like at least 12,000 to be vaccinated so the RHA’s will be having another vaccination drive with the hopes that 4,000 more health care workers get vaccinated.

At long stay homes, 1,143 were vaccinated including 340 care givers and 803 residents.

“We continue to face challenges in getting the appropriate authorisation from next of kin or guardians. We are again appealing to next of kin, children, guardians, those with legal authority to make the decision, to please let us have the consent to have these elderly patients vaccinated.”

Addressing the country’s vaccination programme, the Prime Minister said the final batch of 33,660 doses of vaccines from the Covax Facility, which was supposed to arrive on July 14, was again delayed until August.

However, another batch of Sinopharm vaccines, purchased from China, should arrive in TT next week. That shipment should be able to give the first dose to 300,000 people.

Also, the first tranche of the 800,000 vaccines purchased from the Africa Medical Supply Platform, 200,000 doses of Johnson and Johnson’s one-shot vaccine, should arrive in mid-July rather than August.

“I have had significant conversations with the head of this effort in Africa, President Ramaphosa of South Africa, where the vaccine is being produced now and he has given me the commitment that whatever Africa produces, Caricom will get a portion of it.”

TABLE

Group – New vaccine allocation

Tobago – 10,000

National Security – 6,000

Public transportation – 5,000

Agriculture – 10,000

Ministry of Education – 5,000

Other ministries – 20,000

Supermarket Association – 15,000

Pharmacy Association – 2,000

Manufacturer’s Association – 5,000

Construction industry – 10,000

Banking and Credit Union sectors – 5,000

Food and beverage sector – 20,000

Janitorial companies – 5,000

Tertiary institutions – 20,000

Religious leaders – 2,000

Funeral homes – 500 to 1,000

Diabetes association and Non-Communicable Disease Alliance –

Special needs – 2,000