Dr Hinds: Trinidad and Tobago not running out of covid19 vaccines

Epidemiologist Dr Avery Hinds has said contrary to a BBC report on Tuesday, TT is not running out of covid19 vaccines.

Speaking at the Health Ministry’s media conference on Wednesday, Hinds said he wasn’t sure what criteria were used for the comment.

He said, “The country has received several shipments of vaccines. As the shipments come in, they are utilised in a strategic manner so that the first set of vaccines that is distributed is half of your total, so you ensure you have enough vaccine on hand to provide second doses to those who have received first doses.

"So as you approach that limit, then there might be a pause in the rollout while additional vaccines are sourced so you don’t run out of second doses for individuals who have already received their first dose, but that doesn’t equate to running out of vaccines.

"We know there are additional shipments of vaccines still to come in, so the stock we have is being managed. We are not having difficulties with that aspect of the rollout.”

TT was one of the countries named as running out of vaccines in a BBC report on the Covax initiative. The article, “Covid: Vaccines running out in poorer nations, WHO says,” said the Covax initiative initially set a target of providing two billion doses worldwide by the end of 2021.

It reported, “Most of those are being donated to poorer countries, where Covax hopes to distribute enough vaccines to protect at least 20 per cent of the populations. However, the distribution of these vaccines has been hampered by manufacturing delays and supply disruptions, leading to shortages in countries wholly reliant on Covax.

“Uganda, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and TT are just some of the countries that have reported running out of vaccines in recent days.”

Hinds said a decision had not yet been taken globally as to whether an international immunisation card will be used for the covid19 vaccine.

“There is a travel document known as an international immunisation card that is used for documentation of yellow fever and other internationally required vaccinations. There is not yet a position that a covid19 vaccine is required for travel, so the use of the international card versus the normal immunisation card still is really a matter of choice currently.

“We do know that some states do not recognise whether you are vaccinated or not in their treatment of you in their quarantine procedures coming in, which is a separate thing. It doesn’t prevent you from being able to travel, but it does dictate what happens when you arrive on the other side.

"But currently, without an international recommendation or requirement to put covid19 on the international card, it can go either way. Just walk with both if you have both.”