Steady flow for covid19 vaccination at SAPA

THERE was a steady and smooth flow of people coming to the Southern Academy for the Performing Arts (SAPA) in San Fernando on Tuesday, for either their first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine or their second dose of the Sinopharm vaccine.

The former were part of a batch of 82,500 doses of AstraZeneca which were recently donated to Trinidad and Tobago by the Canadian government.

South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) officials said although the numbers of people coming to be vaccinated were large, the entire process was going smoothly. One said the heavy rain on Monday posed some logistical problems but things were much better on Tuesday.

A second official said there were large numbers of people coming to SAPA to get either the Sinopharm or AstraZeneca vaccine.

Sheraz Baboolal from Fyzabad said he came for his second dose of Sinopharm. "If it's good enough for the Prime Minister, it's good enough for me".

Dr Rowley received his first dose of the Sinopharm vaccine at the Diego Martin Health Centre on July 13. He had his second dose of Sinopharm at the Scarborough Health Centre, Tobago on August 6.

Samantha Baptiste from St Joseph Village said she had been doing her own research on vaccines and felt comfortable taking her first dose of AstraZeneca.

"I'm tired of all the foolishness going round on social media and in the news from people trying to fool people about covid19. I have my family to look after. Covid is no joke for me."

Johnathan Crooks from Claxton Bay had come for his second dose of Sinopharm.

"I don't waste my time on ole talk from people who don't know anything about covid. I spoke with my doctor and I checked the vaccines out myself."

He added, "People forget we have to live with this thing. The more people vaccinated, sooner we can go on with our lives."

At the virtual health news conference on Monday, Principal Medical Officer at the Health Ministry Dr Maryam Abdool-Richards urged people who are coming to vaccination sites to be honest about what vaccines they had received, if any..

She added, however: "The Ministry of Health does have records at our various sites, with the vaccines that would have been administered to persons. These records are kept not only by the regional health authorities but also by the expanded programme of immunisation, which is the department of the Ministry of Health, which leads the vaccination drive."

Abdool-Richards also said the covid19 vaccination remains voluntary.