[UPDATED] More jabs for vaxxed: Health Ministry begins new round of covid19 vaccinations

From next week, additional primary doses of covid19 vaccines will be available to certain categories of the public.

At the Ministry of Health’s virtual media conference on Saturday, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the doses were broken up into categories to ensure delivery to the vulnerable.

He said the additional primary shots will be available for people who were fully vaccinated with Sinopharm, Oxford AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, in keeping with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

Deyalsingh explained that the additional doses were not to be confused with booster shots. He said certain categories of people were targeted and gave a further breakdown for those who got the Sinopharm vaccine as compared to the other vaccines.

“The Sinopharm additional primary vaccine will be available to two categories of people — people 60 years and over who have already received the full complement of the Sinopharm vaccine regardless of disease state, so a 60-year-old healthy person with no comorbidities or immunocompromised, under these guidelines, is eligible for the third dose.

“The second interim recommendation for Sinopharm is regardless of age. If you are moderately to severely immunocompromised, you can also access you third primary shot, as per WHO protocol,” Deyalsingh said.

He added that immunocompromised people included active cancer patients, transplant recipients, people who were immunodeficient, HIV patients and people who were on immunosuppressive therapy.

Additional primary vaccines for people over the age of 60 and people within the immunodeficient category also applied to those fully vaccinated with Oxford AstraZeneca, and Pfizer – 12  and older – and Johnson & Johnson.

Further, he said immunocompromised people who were not patients in the public health sector would be required to produce a referral letter from their attending physician.

Deyalsingh said, “Most of the patients are going to be in the public healthcare system. If you are a private patient in any of these conditions, you will be required to bring in a referral letter from your attending physician to determine your suitability to receive the extra primary dose.

“Certain groups will be given the additional primary doses at specific sites so they do not have to bring in a letter because we know them, for example, kidney transplant recipients, dialysis patients, in the public health system. Patients in the public health system, you do not have to seek out the vaccines, it will be brought to you.”

He added that patients will be called with an appointment date so there was no need to form long lines in front of vaccination sites and health facilities.

Deyalsingh said in most cases the additional primary doses should correspond with the covid19 vaccine taken and not switched with any other brand.

Chief Medical Officer  Dr Roshan Parasram explained there was one exception with the Oxford AstraZenca vaccine and the additional primary dose.

He said, “AstraZenca can be given a third dose of Pfizer in the event we have a shortage or there is a short supply of that particular vaccine. But we will be starting initially with AstraZeneca’s first, second and third doses and then there will be some room, as it is a WHO combination as well, AstraZeneca followed by Pfizer later on, if we need to do so.”

Parasram explained that the additional primary shots or series were not booster shots but rather interim recommendations which were in keeping with the WHO covid19 vaccine guidelines and management.

He said the reasons behind administering booster and primary shots included when a vaccine is administered and the response of the immune system in certain circumstances.

“Booster doses are generally given, for example, to a person who may have two doses of AstraZeneca and after a period of time, a year or 18 months, you would begin to see a decrease in the antibody response. A booster is given at that time to increase and bring it back to where it was before.

“For the group of people with HIV, for example, they have an immunocompromised system, so they don’t respond in the same way as another individual who is not immunocompromised when you receive your primary series. So, for someone who is well, under 60 and received two Sinopharm shots, they won't be needing an additional dose to the immunity threshold. However, immunocompromised people will require an additional primary dose to bring that level of immunity up.”

Parasram added that the WHO has been considering boosters for all types of vaccines based on the data, efficiency, effectiveness and safety and was hopeful that by the end of November it would be issue a statement.

The announcement came hours before the arrival of 151,200 Johnson & Johnson doses. In a release, shortly before 9 pm, the ministry disclosed the batch arrived at Piarco International Airport about 6.32 pm. Deyalsingh was on hand to receive it. The batch was sourced from the African Medical Supplies Platform (AMSP). The ministry said the United Nations Children's Fund is the coordinating body for the procurement of covid19 vaccines via the AMSP.

"These doses of Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be absorbed into the supply of covid19 vaccines, which are used for the national vaccination programme," said the ministry.

"The Government of Trinidad and Tobago remains committed to safeguarding the health of the population and to providing an ample supply of safe and effective WHO approved covid19 vaccines for the population."

This story has been updated with additional details. Below is the original story headlined Additional primary doses for covid19 vaccines roll out next week

From next week, additional primary doses of covid19 vaccines will be available to certain categories of the public.

At the Ministry of Health’s virtual media conference on Saturday, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the doses were broken up into categories to ensure delivery to the vulnerable.

He said the additional primary shots will be available for people who were fully vaccinated with Sinopharm, Oxford AstraZeneca, Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson, in keeping with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

Deyalsingh explained that the additional doses were not to be confused with booster shots. He said certain categories of people were targeted and gave a further break down for those who got the Sinopharm vaccine as compared to the other vaccines.

“The Sinopharm additional primary vaccine will be available to two categories of people — people 60 years and over who have already received the full complement of the Sinopharm vaccine regardless of disease state, so a 60-year-old healthy person with no comorbidities or immunocompromised, under these guidelines is eligible for the third dose.

“The second interim recommendation for Sinopharm is regardless of age, if you are moderately to severely immunocompromised, you can also access you third primary shot, as per WHO protocol,” Deyalsingh said.

He added that immunocompromised people included active cancer patients, transplant recipients, people who were immunodeficient, HIV patients and people who were immunosuppressive.

Additional primary vaccines for people over the age of 60 and people within the immunodeficient category also applied to those fully vaccinated with Oxford AstraZeneca, Pfizer – 12 years and older – and Johnson and Johnson.

Deyalsingh said the additional primary doses should correspond with the covid19 vaccine taken and not switched with any other brand.

Further, he said immunocompromised people who were not patients in the public health sector, would be required to produce a referral letter from the attending physician.

Deyalsingh said, “Most of the patients are going to be in the public healthcare system. If you are a private patient in any of these conditions, you will be required to bring in a referral letter from your attending physician to determine your suitability to receive the extra primary dose.

“Certain groups will be given the additional primary doses at specific sites so they do not have to bring in a letter because we know them, for example, kidney transplant recipients, dialysis patients, in the public health system. Patients in the public health system, you do not have to seek out the vaccines, it will be brought to you.”

He added that patients will be called with an appointment date so there was no need to form long lines in front vaccination sites and health facilities.

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