The average number of Covid-19 vaccinations in Tobago has dwindled from 350 to 25 a day.
This according to Secretary of the Division of Health, Wellness and Family Development in Tobago Tracy Davidson-Celestine at the virtual health update on Thursday.
Davidson-Celestine said “We are still pushing ahead to ensure that we can have at least 80% of this island vaccinated.
“And so we are focused on ensuring that that represents 36,000 persons within the population and 36,000 meaning those who are from ages 12 right up to adulthood.”
She said that 2,215 and 1,705 students were partially vaccinated and fully vaccinated respectively.
Davidson-Celestine said, “We are at about 64% of the 80% that we have set aside to be vaccinated. And so at this point in time at the first-dose level we have 22,910 persons who have since received the first dose of the vaccine but more than that we have 61% of that population which would equate to 21,808 who are fully vaccinated at this point in time.”
She said the island’s health system was able to adequately treat both Covid-19 positive patients as well as patients with other unrelated health issues.
Davidson-Celestine said the Tobago’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facilities at the Infectious Centre were between 70% to 75% complete.
She said the facility will be equipped with oxygen compressors.
Davidson-Celestine said, “We should have at least 28 ventilators and again by the end of the month we would be full self-sufficient where oxygen is concerned.”
She said the ICU facilities were expected to be equipped with six specialist nurses currently being trained.
Davidson-Celestine said patients requiring additional specialist care for medical conditions such as diabetes and dialysis would be adequately cared for at these facilities.
She said, “We have prepared our systems, we have procured our ventilators, we are procuring the oxygen concentrators, we have procured the beds, we have some challenges with accessing specialist medical doctors to outfit some of our facilities but we are intent on ensuring that we have a robust system which can deal with those who considered vulnerable.”
As of 10 pm Wednesday, Tobago reported 19 new Covid-19 cases and no new deaths. The total number of active cases on the island was 440, with six patients in the ICU facilities.
Of the total 3,676 positive cases since March 2020, 14 have been confirmed with the Delta Variant.
