Silent Killer Spotted in Tobago Vaccination Process

By Chantalé Fletcher

GENERAL Manager of Primary Care at the Tobago Regional Health Authority (​TRHA) Dr Roxanne Mitchell says hypertension is called the silent killer

She was speaking during the Tobago Division of Heath, Wellness and Family Development virtual presser on Thursday.

Dr Mitchell made reference to the vaccination exercise at the Magdalena Grand where hypertension was a main ailment in people being vaccinated.

The GM stated that between June 12 to 18, 1, 263 persons were seen at the Magdalena Grand with 122 experiencing elevated blood pressures above systolic 160 and diastolic 90.

Dr Mitchell said there were a number of people walking around with elevated blood pressures.

“Persons can develop complications such as strokes, heart attacks, and kidney failures,” she said and called on all people to be proactive regarding their heath.

Highlighting the vaccination, status on the island, Dr Thompson stated that 45% of all the vaccines given were AstraZeneca vaccines while 55% were from Sinopharn.

An update of the Vaccination Status in Tobago:

She stated that for June 3,783 1^st doses of Sinopharn vaccines were administered thus far.

Mitchell said, “We began administration of the second dose AstraZeneca on June 7, and we to date have administered 1,849 doses. However, in regards to Sinopharn, administration began on June 16 and as of the end of June 23, 912 second doses were delivered.

“Twenty-three percent of persons vaccinated have received their second dose thus far, but there is a remaining 55%,” she added.

Dr Mitchell said, “We are halfway through the administration of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine; however, the second dose is due eight to 12 weeks after the first dose is administered.”

She also added that in regards to Sinopharn, the process in on-going and the second dose is administered three to four weeks or 21 to 28 days post first vaccination.

The GM said there were 281 healthcare workers vaccinated in June thus far, and emphasised that more were to be vaccinated before the week is out.

She explained that daily vaccination administration is trending upwards, as the initial target of 500 doses was surpassed yesterday of 600 plus doses administered.

“We are looking at ramping up the process to ensure the timely delivery of vaccines to the population,” Dr. Mitchell said.

She said, “We started with 227 Sinopharn on June 12 and on June 24, 265 AstraZeneca vaccines were delivered at that particular site which totaled 1,598 doses of vaccines administered at Magdalena thus far.”

Mitchell referred to the health minister’s plea to have next of kin give consent for their relatives in long term care facilities to be vaccinated.

She stated that some elderly homes were not interested in receiving the vaccines for their residents and caregivers which is a concern.

Dr Mitchell pleaded with relatives of those patients to please come forward.