By Prior Beharry
BREASTFEEDING women in Trinidad and Tobago will now be allowed to take the Sinopharm vaccine.
This was revealed by the head of Director of Women’s Health in the Ministry of Health Dr Adesh Sirjusingh during a virtual presser on Monday.
He said this decision was made on Sunday by the National Immunization Technical Advisory Group headed by Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram.
Dr Sirjusingh said, “We are now allowing the use of the Sinopharm vaccine for the breastfeeding population.”
He stressed the approval was not for the AstraZeneca vaccine.
Dr Sirjusingh said all World Health Organization (WHO)-approved Covid-19 vaccines tested in the laboratory on animals showed no directed effect on the foetus.
He added, “So they seem to be quite safe in the laboratory,” he said.
Dr Sirjusingh said studies were no ongoing regarding pregnant and breast feeding women.
He said, “Based on other similar vaccines in pregnancy and the technology in the background, the approvals given by WHO for emergency use in pregnancy and in breastfeeding, you’ll see on this site that some of this is allowed.”
Dr Sirjusingh said, “For the general population, I am asking you if it’s your turn and you are eligible for vaccination please avail yourself especially if you are around pregnant women. We want to create a barrier between the virus and those pregnant women.”
Decrease in pregnancies
He said thus far 170 pregnant women have contracted Covid-19 with ten of them ending up in the intensive care unit. He said in March, 41 pregnant women had contracted Covid-19. “So just like the rest of T&T we are seeing a surge in the pregnant clientele,” the doctor said.
Dr Sirjusingh said annual pregnancies have been decreasing in Trinidad and Tobago.
He said annual births were 25,000 and 20,000 in the 1980s and 1990s respectively.
Dr Sirjusingh said in the past few years annual births were around 17,000 while last year births were under 16,000, noting that there have been a downwards trend every year.
He said there was usually an increase in births between August to September every year and last year during the pandemic, with no Carnival, showed a similar trend.
Dr Sirjusingh said 91% of the births were in public hospitals.
