PM, Deyalsingh: Big vaccine push in August

All stops must be pulled out to ensure that in August, as many people as possible in Trinidad and Tobago are fully vaccinated against covid19. In making this call, on Saturday, the Prime Minister and Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said all politicians should use the same machinery they use to get people to the polls, to get people to the nearest facility to get vaccinated.

Addressing a news conference at the Scarborough Library Facility in Tobago, Dr Rowley, referencing today's Emancipation Day, said, "...make a resolution to emancipate yourself from covid.”

"Within our population of 1.4 million people..that's the target we are looking at..the science tells us we need to vaccinate 900,000 of those people," he said.

"To date, we have put our hands and have in our possession, approximately 1.2 million doses of (WHO-approved covid19) vaccines."

Rowley said all of those vaccines are two dose vaccines and allow for 600,000 people to be vaccinated. "That is a major hurdle from not having any vaccines." But Rowley added TT still needs a substantial amount of vaccines and more should be arriving in the country in August.

Deyalsingh said currently there are another 500-600,000 doses of Sinopharm vaccines to be administered, with 15-20,000 doses of AstraZenca vaccine in stock for those waiting to get their second shot.

Rowley said having these vaccines in hand does not help "until those vaccines get into human beings." Against this background and the possibility of the covid19 delta variant coming to TT, Rowley said there is no reason why people who are vaccine hesitant or have not yet been vaccinated should not get vaccinated now.

He agreed with Deyalsingh's calls for politicians, councillors, parliamentarians, religious bodies and other stakeholders to play their part in getting people vaccinated. "I asked all the people in the Cabinet who represent people, the same way you organise and mobilise to come out in rallies and so on..which we have not had for a long time in this country...go out there and mobilise people."

Rowley said he urged them to "transport them to the vaccination stations..go into the communities as you go for the votes."

He said people promoting vaccine hesitancy are either using the claims that people are being used as guinea pigs or the vaccines are only a prerequisite for people to travel out of TT. "People of TT, the vaccines are first and foremost about saving your life and if you have a life, you could be a tourist after."

After saying the delta variant is in many countries outside of TT and its effects are severe on young people, Rowley said Government remains fixed on its target of having children return to school in September. "It is not in September, that we will be able to say, let's do something in September to have children go out to school in September."

He said, "It is long before September, which is now, that we have to keep holding the line, to be in a position at the end of August to be talking about school children in September."

Rowley also rejected claims from some persons of a covid19 cover-up in Tobago, or that there is inadequate health care on the island to deal with covid19. "In Tobago, we have properly qualified health staff in Tobago and we are not running a fowl coop here."

He urged people to make an educated choice about getting vaccinated and not do so on the basis of ole talk or comments on Facebook.

Deyalsingh said the target of having 188,900 people fully vaccinated by July 31 was exceeded. He said 194,710 have received two doses of a covid19 vaccine, as of that date, while 388,805 people have received their first dose. Deyalsingh said 15,000 shots per day were administered to people between July 21 to 23. He added that 15,000 to 20,000 shots per day can be done in both Trinidad and Tobago. But after July 23, Deyalsingh said, "We literally went and cut our doses administered per shot, by half." He said this meant an average of 7,000 to 8,000 shots per day were being administered over the last week.

"So August has to be a huge month for vaccination," he said.

After recalling the manufacturing, construction and food sectors have been reopened after they sent their members to be vaccinated, Deyalsingh said the call to be vaccinated is now going out to live-in domestic workers and personal services employees such as barbers, hairdressers and nail salon technicians.

Rowley said, "Once retail workers get vaccinated, in about two weeks they could be back to work.” He hoped the same situation could apply to live-in domestic and personal services workers, once they are vaccinated.

On employers who are asking their employees to be vaccinated before they return to work, or submit negative PCR tests, Rowley said, "They have a responsibility, not just to the rest of the staff but to the rest of the population."

He said, "Basically what that policy is doing, is asking people to assure others that they are not carrying the virus and posing a threat to persons who have exercised their rights in a different way."

He said he will discuss with Finance Minister Colm Imbert whether any additional support for people employed in the bar industry.