Covid19 vaccines among list of ministry-approved drugs

The Health Ministry has approved several new drugs for use in Trinidad and Tobago, among them covid19 vaccines.

The list, signed into law on May 21 under the Food and Drugs Act, Chapter 30:01 as Legal Notice No. 174, includes the covid19 vaccine (Vero Cell) Inactivated, manufactured by the Beijing Institute of China; the Tozinameran covid19 mRNA vaccine manufactured by BioNTech Manufacturing of Germany; and the AZD1222 covid19 vaccine manufactured by Catalent Anagni S.R.L.

These are the Sinopharm vaccine, the two Covax shipments of the AstraZeneca vaccines and the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. There have been no official reports of this vaccine's being imported or used in this country.

The list was issued by the Health Minister on the recommendation of the drug advisory committee in accordance with paragraph 7, division 3 of the second schedule of the Food and Drugs Regulations.