TRINIDAD and Tobago’s youngest Covid-19 case is a new-born baby.
This was announced by the Director of Women’s Health at the Ministry of Health Dr Adesh Sirjusingh at the Ministry of Health’s Covid-19 presser on Monday.
He said, “This is the first case of documented mother-to-child transmission of Covid-19 in Trinidad and Tobago and is the youngest patient we have to report.”
The mother of the child was an asymptomatic carrier of the virus and while not many details were shared, Dr Sirjusingh reported that both the mother and the child were doing well.
Dr Sirjusingh also said that Trinidad and Tobago has reached the worldwide stage of reporting maternal deaths in their Covid-19 healthcare system and unfortunately reported the first new mother lost due to Covid-19.
He said, “I have the sad news to report that in the recent past we actually lost our first mother after she delivered to Covid-19 in Trinidad and Tobago as of the results of the complications of Covid-19.”
He also said that pregnant women over 35 and in the second half of pregnancy with Covid-19 are more at risk than other patients of being admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and experiencing morbidities or mortalities.
Dr Sirjusingh reminded the breastfeeding population that the Sinopharm vaccine is allowed and commended the overwhelming response of the patients who have taken the vaccine.
He also said that women who have gotten their first dose of the vaccine and discovered that they were pregnant are not currently being given their second dose until after the pregnancy.
Answering questions from members of the public, Dr Sirjusingh said that women on contraceptives should not stop taking them to get the vaccine, the fertility rate of women were not affected as a result of the vaccine however, some research did indicate men having a reduced sperm count as a result of being vaccinated, pregnant women should take the vaccine that will become available to them, and members of the public should get vaccinated to prevent the spread of any variants that arrive on our shores.
He also urged the public to get vaccinated to protect the vulnerable group of pregnant women and children as there is currently no World Health Organization (WHO) approved vaccine for those groups in Trinidad and Tobago.
