By Chantalé Fletcher
ALL 109 health centres across Trinidad and Tobago will receive the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine to distribute by late next week.
The Pfizer vaccine that is available to persons between the ages of 12 and 18 and pregnant women will also become available to teachers and healthcare workers, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh has said.
The minister also announced that 86 pregnant women have been vaccinated with the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.
Deyalsingh, speaking a the press conference hosted by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s on Saturday, said the vaccination drive needed to be expanded given the expiration dates of the vaccines.
He said, “We are going to be expanding the Johnson & Johnson drive, ‘One shot & done,’ from late next week, it will be made available at all 109 health centres throughout the length and breath of Trinidad and Tobago.”
The minister pledged to continue focusing on outreach activities to communities that need information, easy access whereby mobile units will be available.
He said, “Yesterday (Friday), in my capacity as Member of Parliament for St Joseph, we did an outreach in Bangladesh where the figures were decent. We did about 39 as many people were already vaccinated through the CEPEP vaccination drive and construction.”
The minister explained that this meant that 39 more people in a close-knit community were now protected.
In addition to the outreach and mobile units, Deyalsingh added pop-ups to the list. “If you have a big construction site, we are going to pop up there and vaccinate you – malls, groceries and public spaces, markets to try and get the 106,000 doses into people’s arms as fast as possible.”
The following is a breakdown of the vaccination distribution:
| Total 1st Dose | Total 2nd Dose | Total Single Dose | Total Completed
Vaccination |
|
| NWRHA | 66,248 | 61,532 | 113 | 61,645 |
| NCRHA | 87,904 | 73,445 | 82 | 73,527 |
| ERHA | 51,946 | 43,289 | 215 | 43,504 |
| SWRHA | 115,278 | 94,240 | 598 | 94,838 |
| TRHA | 16,040 | 11,999 | 35 | 12,034 |
| State Agencies | 26,143 | 8,725 | 20 | 8,745 |
| Other Agencies | 139,680 | 96,087 | 0 | 96,087 |
| TOTAL | 503,239 | 389,317 | 1,063 | 390,380 |
Deyalsingh stated that pregnant women within the private sector will be able to access the Pfizer vaccine at the mass vaccination sites.
He said that Dr Adesh Sirjusingh was currently working closely with private obstetrician and gynecologists as 7% to 8% of live births were covered within the private sector.
The minister reminded the public that the 305,370 Pfizer vaccines were received as a gift from the United States government, but their expiry date was in November.
Deyalsingh said there was a relatively short time frame to use the doses which was classified as a two-dose regimen.
He said, “This means that shots have to be given three to four weeks apart. It also means that that we have to use out half of those shots by mid-October to the end of October latest.”
Deyalsingh said that those doses were ring-fenced for children 12 to 18 years old.
However, the minister said 25% of the eligible school-aged population was vaccinated but he was concernd that the initial rate per date of between 3,000 to 3,500 was now down to about 1,000.
Deyalsingh said, “We will continue to prioritise our children, however, we are now going to open up Pfizer to all healthcare workers and teachers to give them another option and see how it goes before it is opened up to the general public.”
