Moruga residents welcome covid19 vaccine caravan

MORUGA residents welcomed the opportunity on Tuesday to receive the single-dose Johnson & Johnson covid19 vaccine.

A mobile vaccination clinic was arranged by the Arts Society of Mt Hope, the Mass Vaccination Coordination Centre, and Moruga/Tableland MP Michelle Benjamin.

TT received its first tranche of 108,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine from the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust in August.

Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh previously said these doses would be going to inland and coastal villages whose residents find it difficult to access vaccination centres.

As the mobile clinic moved through Marac, several residents looked on from their homes.

At the Marac Community Centre, ten people came out to be vaccinated. After information was taken from them by medical personnel, the residents were ushered in an orderly manner into a parked air-conditioned bus to receive their jabs and were observed for 20 minutes before they were allowed to leave.

Celia Sahadath, 58, of Marac, said she felt very normal after taking the vaccine. Asked why she wanted to be vaccinated, Sahadath replied, "It's for my health and I have children home. I took the step to do the right thing." She said she would encourage other people to be vaccinated.

Cynthia Seebaracksingh, 57, of La Lune, said she had no hesitancy. After receiving her dose, Seebaracksingh said, "It feels good so far."

Andre Molino, 24, of Marac, admitted to being hesitant at first. "(I had) a little doubt, but you have to take it." Molino said he felt normal after and would encourage other people to be vaccinated.

The clinic next stopped at the La Lune Recreation Ground, with the team going to the surrounding houses to ask residents if they wanted to be vaccinated. In some cases, they also asked passers-by. Seven people came forward.

Before leaving the venue, the team was told about 80-year-old John Charles Anthony who wanted to be vaccinated but could not make the long walk from his home to the mobile clinic. They went to Anthony's house, patiently took his personal and medical information while he sat on a chair in his living room, and gave him his vaccine. They waited with him for 20 minutes to ensure he had no adverse side effects. Charles was grateful. He told the team, "I heard you were coming and I wanted to come out."

A woman, who declined to give her name, said she wanted to protect her elderly parents and was happy to be vaccinated.

At the Grand Chemin Fishing Facility, 16 people went to be vaccinated.

Messages were broadcast in English and Spanish, via a loudspeaker, to encourage people living in and around the facility to be vaccinated. A man named Hayden said he was worried about all the stories he was hearing about covid19 and wanted a vaccine.

At this location one team member said, of the 100 vaccines they took to Moruga, 50 doses had been used by that time. He said, before going to Marac the mobile clinic made an impromptu stop in Princes Town for gas and people came out asking to receive vaccines.

Another said while he was happy that people wanted to be vaccinated, he was concerned that the majority were over 50 years.

"There are not enough young people coming. They need to be educated more about taking the vaccine."

Benjamin told Newsday, "There is a lot of hesitancy and that is due to a lot of different theories and social media playing on the psyche of people." She was confident that once a conversation is had with those people who may be hesitant, and patience is demonstrated, they would understand that vaccination was a first step towards returning to some kind of normalcy.

While covid19 vaccines are available at a health centre in Gran Chemin, Benjamin believes it was important for extra effort to be made to reach residents who have difficulty going to the centre.

At the virtual covid19 news conference on Monday, Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram said there will be a wider distribution of the Johnson & Johnson covid19 vaccine to members of the public from Wednesday.

He said the vaccine will be available at all mass vaccination sites and health centres, and people seeking it will not need an appointment.