By Prior Beharry
NOT only the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine may require a third jab but so too the one from Pfizer.
This according to Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh at the virtual media conference of the Ministry of Health on Wednesday.
He was responding to a question from AZPNews.com about reports that a person may require a third dose of the the Sinopharm vaccine after a low immune response.
Trinidad and Tobago received 100,000 of the Sinopharm vaccines on Wednesday. They have an expiry date of April 2023. T&T is expected to receive a total of 1.5 million doses of this vaccine from China.
T&T has so far only received AstraZeneca and Sinopharm vaccines which have been approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO). Pfizer is also approved by WHO and efforts have been made to procure that vaccine for use here.
Deyalsingh said, “Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said people will likely need a third dose of the Covid-19 vaccine within 12 months of getting fully vaccinated.”
He added that Bourla also said people will be needed to be vaccinated against the coronavirus annually.
Deyalsingh said, “I am trying to guide the discussion on vaccinations in a manner that all the issues surrounding vaccinations are raised from a point of view of knowledge.
“It is not only the Sinopharm vaccine that is being recommended for a third dose. It is also the Pfizer vaccine made in the United States.”
“We are using these vaccines around the world for about six months.
“I just want to shade all the discussions about a third dose, it is not only for the Sinopharm vaccine it has been mentioned even Pfizer needed a third dose… months ago.”
Asked how would someone in T&T know if his immune response was low after receiving the Sinopharm vaccine, Epidemiologist Dr Avery Hinds said such data was compiled at an international level and not here.
He said, “The third jab and the need for a third jab and how you know your immune response is low, this is actually data that is compiled at an international level. They look at the responses sometimes out of from your initial vaccination.
“And to the best of our knowledge, at this point the immune response and protection is not that short live but because the vaccine is relatively new the timeframe under which that immune response will last is still under assessment.
“If it becomes apparent from the international data that additional booster shots are needed then the policy around the administration will be amended first with the international guidelines then at the international level. So that is something that comes out of ongoing follow up and ongoing research.”
