Only 5 take J&J covid19 vaccine on first day of rollout

On the first day that people in Trinidad and Tobago could access the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, only five people took advantage of the opportunity.

Twenty doses had previously been given to athletes through the Ministry of Sport and Community Development.

This was even though the vaccine could be accessed at a minimum of 13 sites across the Eastern, North West and South West regional health authorities.

People could access the J&J vaccine at the Las Cuevas Health Centre under the NWRHA, and at the Point Fortin Indoor Sporting Arena, and the Indian Walk and Tabaquite Health Centres under the SWRHA.

The ERHA, through its covid19 vaccination caravan, offered the vaccine at different times of the day at: Santa Cruz Road (opposite the Matelot Outreach Centre), Fisherman Depot, St Helena Community Centre, Wendell’s Shop in Grande Riviere, Monte Video in front of Bishop Shop, San Souci in front of the Community Centre, L'Anse Noire Community Centre, Mission by the RC Church, and Stacy’s Mini Mart in Toco.

The Health Ministry’s update on Wednesday said the total number of people vaccinated with their first dose of a two-dose regime was 494,625. Of these, 117,337 took the AstraZeneca vaccine, 358,465 the Sinopharm vaccine, and 18,823 the Pfizer vaccine.
The number of people vaccinated with their second dose was 377,373 and there are 377,398 people who have been fully vaccinated.

The ministry said eight people have died of the covid19 virus, bringing the death toll to 1,252.
An additional 194 positive cases of the virus were detected in samples taken between August 21 and 24.

The people who died were two elderly men, three elderly women, one middle-aged man, one middle-aged woman, and one young adult male, all with comorbidities.
There are 4,960 active cases. Since March 2020, there have been 43,538 cases, of which 37,326 have recovered.

There are 294 patients in hospital, 17 fewer than on Tuesday. Of these, there are 72 people at the Couva Hospital and Multi-Training Facility, with 13 in the intensive care unit and 18 in the high dependency unit.

There are 20 people at the Caura Hospital, 46 at the Augustus Long Hospital, zero at the St Ann’s Hospital, 48 at the Arima General Hospital, 41 at the new Point Fortin Hospital, 42 at the St James Medical Complex, 38 at the Scarborough Regional Hospital, Fort King George and four at the Scarborough Regional Hospital, Signal Hill.

There are 88 patients in step-down facilities, with none at the Claxton Bay Correctional Facility, 47 at UWI Debe, four at UTT Valsayn, 24 at the Point Fortin Area Hospital, none at the Port of Spain field hospital, six at the Couva Field Hospital, seven at the Tacarigua Facility, and none in Tobago.

There are 145 people in state quarantine facilities, and 4,499 people in home self-isolation. There are 243 recovered community cases and 43 people have been discharged from public health facilities.

The number of people tested in public and private facilities is 303,118. Of these tests, 131,489 were done at private facilities.