By Sue-Ann Wayow and Chantalé Fletcher
ALL those fully vaccinated against Covid-19 will be able to get a booster shot of the vaccine starting on Monday.
The announcement came from Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh on Saturday at the Ministry of Health’s virtual press conference.
Deyalsingh said all people receiving three of the four vaccines that were made available can get their booster shot from December 13 to January 7 as the programme will be rolled out on a phased basis.
The booster shot is not yet available to persons under the age of 18, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Dr Roshan Parasram confirmed.
Dr Parasram said that booster shots have not yet been given to children who have received the Pfizer vaccine. The CMO had been maintaining that the boosters should be given after six months of the second dose for best efficacy.
As a result, those who have been recipients of the Pfizer vaccine in Trinidad and Tobago will not be able to access their booster shots until March 2022.
The Pfizer vaccine will be given as a booster shot to recipients of the AstraZeneca vaccine and, Deyalsingh said, there were more than enough Pfizer vaccines for first, second and booster shots.
People receiving booster shots will have to go to the 17 mass vaccination sites to access it along with a form of identification and Covid-19 vaccination card.
Deyalsingh said that the health centres would not have the capacity to handle the influx of persons who would be receiving a booster shot.
It was emphasised at the conference that booster shots were not mandatory and persons would still be considered fully vaccinated if they do not obtain one.
Deyalsingh said that people with initial doses of AstraZeneca will receive a Pfizer booster shot, those who received Sinopharm will get another Sinopharm vaccine and persons who received a Johnson and Johnson (J&J) can choose between a booster shot of a J&J or a Pfizer.
Choose wisely
Regarding the J&J choice, Dr Parasram gave further explanations.
He said that the World Health Organization on December 9 released the additional combination of acceptance of J&J followed by a Pfizer, as well as J&J followed by Moderna.
He said, “The general rule of thumb was to look at the safety and the efficacy. In terms of people being able to access either combination at the vaccination site, they will be able to get J&J followed by J&J or J&J followed by Pfizer based on a personal choice.”
Dr Parasram said that personal choices should be weighed by two things.
He said, “J&J followed by J&J, if you had no adverse reactions following the first vaccination, generally speaking, the second dose tends to be a bit milder in terms of the side-effect profile.
“So, in terms of safety, you don’t add a new vaccine into your system at that point in time. You have to make an informed decision on which one you prefer, but both vaccines will be available based on request at the vaccination site.”
He added that the mixture of vaccines has been shown to be slightly more effective but persons should weigh safety and efficacy but the choice was personal.
The CMO also urged persons to contact their health professionals before their visit to the sites to decide on their combination of vaccines.
Those eligible for the first booster phase would be persons who would have received their second shot of either the AstraZeneca or Sinopharm vaccine by June 30, 2021.
Persons who received the one-shot J&J vaccine by November 6 can also get their booster shot in the first phase.
Deyalsingh said, “It will be a one-month rolling programme and at the end of December, we will alert you as to those persons who would have received their doses in July, when to come in. If you received your Pfizer doses, you are not due for a booster until six months after you receive your second doses which were administered from December 2021. So, we will be coming to you around February that you can access booster shots from March 2022 with a Pfizer booster.”
The minister added, “No one knows at this point what the end game is.”
He said as more information is available, the necessary adjustments to the general vaccination programme will be made.
He said that this was one step closer to reducing the spread and impact of Covid-19.
The Ministry of Health’s vaccination information last updated on Friday states that there were 653,077 persons with a completed vaccination regime.
