Tracy warns: Possible medical crisis in Tobago – 60% still unvaccinated

With the majority of Tobago’s adult population still unvaccinated, THA Secretary of Health, Wellness and Family Development Tracy Davidson-Celestine warned the island could soon have a medical crisis on its hands.

At the division’s virtual media briefing on Thursday, Davidson-Celestine said the division had initially hoped to vaccinate about 45,000 people. Tobago has a population of 60,000.

“However, after two or three months, we are still struggling," she said

“Forty per cent is where we are at now in terms of the first dose. So we still have 60 per cent of the population to be vaccinated.”

The challenge, she said, was that because the majority were still unvaccinated, "It is very likely, with the delta variant hovering in the air, that we could have a medical crisis, or a significant medical challenge on our hands.”

She said she would not like the island to experience the same fate as Brazil, which has had to establish burial grounds for covid19 victims.

“I really don’t want to see that situation occurring here in Tobago and in Trinidad and Tobago.”

Stressing “the uptake is not one that we are comfortable with at this point,” Davidson-Celestine said covid19 is largely affecting those who are unvaccinated.

“So, the appeal is to encourage members of the population to come forth to access the vaccines.”