By Sue-Ann Wayow
THERE has been a steady decrease in the number of persons in the 12 to 18 age bracket going for the Pfizer vaccine and instead, more adults were stepping forward to get the Pfizer shot.
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said while he was happy that adults were accepting the vaccine, he wished to see more of the 90,000 children coming forward for the jab.
He stated that only 33,540 children got at least a first shot which was just over one third of the targeted population.
At the Ministry of Health’s virtual press conference on Saturday, the minister stated that in the beginning of the Pfizer roll-out, some 3,500 persons between 12 and 18 were being administered the vaccine daily but now, the number were just above 500 daily.
For the past two days, 550 and 549 persons were vaccinated daily, Deyalsingh said.
Deyalsingh said, “Don’t let the numbers lull us into a place of complacency, because when we disaggregate it, more adults are taking advantage of the Pfizer vaccine but parents and children, you are not taking advantage of it and your numbers have plummeted to about one sixth or one seventh to where we started at.”
Deyalsingh who emphasised that the vaccine had a November expiry date, urged parents and guardians to take their children for the only World Health Organization (WHO) Covid-19 vaccine approved for that age group.
Of the 305,000 two-shot doses vaccines received from the United States, 90,000 persons in the 12 to 18 age bracket were already allocated both doses. To date, Deyalsingh said there were 60,000 doses left for the general public.
The issue was not about vaccine availability but getting the children to get the shot he said.
He added, “Many children do want to be vaccinated but the parents are preventing them.”
The Government has implemented a policy for children attending Forms Four, Five and Six that in order to attend in-person classes beginning from October 4, they must be fully vaccinated with two doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
The minister said, “The Delta variant seems to be going after children more and more.”
The Pfizer which is also given to pregnant women in their second trimester and above was administered to 366 women, Deyalsingh revealed.
J&J vaccine doing well
On Friday, at City Gate, Port-of-Spain and seven malls throughout the country, the one shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine was given to the public.
Deyalsingh said the initiative at City Gate was a success with 68 persons being vaccinated in about three hours which was very “promising.”
He said what was interesting about the City Gate initiative was that persons from all over Trinidad were able to get vaccinated and can now become “ambassadors” in their communities.
With that in mind, the ministry will be going to key areas where shopping is being done to meet people where they are.
Two major drives are being planned for the last weekend in September and the first weekend in October to vaccinate the public with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine.
The Ministry of Health and by extension the regional health authorities will be going to Port-of-Spain, Tunapuna, Sangre Grande, central and south Trinidad in selected supermarkets and other areas equipped to administer the Johnson & Johnson vaccine which has already been given to 9,011 persons.
From the mall initiative , Deyalsingh said 318 persons were vaccinated altogether.
“Yesterday gave us our best numbers in terms of the one shot and done, we were able to do 984,” he said.
Appeal to Tobago
However, the minister said he was disappointed that only 12 persons showed up for the vaccine at Lowlands Mall, Tobago. He said it was worrying that the Tobago population was not taking the vaccine as quickly as anticipated due to various reasons including vaccine misinformation.
A Ministry of Health team was sent to Tobago last week to do assessments and members of the team are expected to return on Sunday, the minister stated.
He added that Tobago will be supported in any way possible.
