UNC calls for justification of SoE extension

The United National Congress (UNC) is calling on the government to justify extending the state of emergency (SoE) for another three months.

The call comes as government is set to ask Parliament on Wednesday to grant the extension. The current measure expires on August 29.

At the UNC’s weekly media briefing on Sunday, Caroni East MP Dr Rishad Seecharan and Senator Jayanti Lutchmedial said the justifications no longer exist.

Seecharan said the rolling average of new daily cases was half of what it was when the SoE was originally implemented, the business community was no longer in consensus that the SoE was needed, the government had deemed it safe for children to return to school, and there are hundreds of thousands of vaccines available in Trinidad and Tobago.

He asked how government was going to get vaccines into the arms of hesitant people, especially those in Tobago, and among healthcare workers.

“Is it that we as a nation are being punished for those who are vaccine hesitant? Where was the public health education for the man on the ground six months ago explaining why the vaccines were safe and effective? What will be our position in three months when we are not at herd immunity? There is no justification for continuing to curtail people’s rights while destroying their livelihoods.”

Lutchmedial said it was necessary for the government to tell the nation what it plans to accomplish during the extension. She said there was no data to show the effectiveness of any measures taken by the government.

“What are the plans for the economy for next three months? Where is the data on the accurate amount of job losses? Tell us how these concerns will be addressed. What strategies will they be putting in place that they have not already done? Why isn’t there a more aggressive campaign against vaccine hesitancy? Tell us, is there a magic number of vaccinations at which point the economy will be reopened?”

Asked whether she thought people would congregate if restrictions were lifted, she said this was a simple matter of enforcement.

“Calling an SoE doesn’t do anything if you don’t have proper enforcement, so we must enforce the public health guidelines and regulations. Restricting the fundamental rights and freedoms guaranteed by the constitution, is that really essential to enforce public health guidelines and best practices?”

Seecharan said the Opposition has been encouraging people to take the vaccine, but the government needs to address people who have medical and religious concerns. He addressed concerns around the Pfizer vaccine which has been declared safe for use in children 12-18.

“The Pfizer vaccine is currently under emergency use listing by the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) and the World Health Organization (WHO), but it should be fully recognised by the FDA next week which means that the WHO would approve it fully. This means it would no longer be for emergency use. Some people say it’s experimental, meaning that the advantages outweighed the disadvantages, but because it has been given to so many people, and studies have been done, it is getting full approval.

“We in the Opposition have always been pro-vaccination and we advise everyone to go out and get a vaccine.”

Lutchmedial said the government should put more information into the public domain to reduce people’s fear of taking the vaccine, including the odds around experiencing an adverse effect. She said the information given by scientists was not easily understood by the man on the street.