(Trinidad Express) Covid-19 vaccines will be distributed to all citizens and non-nationals in Trinidad and Tobago, says Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh.
“Any human being in Trinidad and Tobago may be offered the vaccine free of charge, whether you are a citizen, a national, a Caricom national, a migrant, a diplomat, any human being in Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.
The minister was responding to a question at the ministry’s virtual news conference on Covid-19 yesterday.
He said in June 2019, Cabinet agreed to the provision of health care to non-nationals in Trinidad and Tobago.
He said this medical care pertains to emergency situations, immunisation and treatment of communicable diseases such as HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and other high-risk infectious diseases.
He said under the COVAX facility, Trinidad and Tobago will be receiving vaccines approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
However, he said to date, no vaccine has been approved by WHO.
Deyalsingh noted the Pfizer vaccine was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for emergency use in the US, and the United Kingdom and Canada are also taking this approach.
With respect to flu vaccines, Deyalsingh said a total of 50,137 flu vaccines have been administered to people in T&T.
He said because there have been no flu deaths and minimal hospitalisations, people have dropped their guard as to the need for the flu vaccine.
The minister noted that flu numbers are down because of Covid-19 protocols such as hand-washing and mask wearing, but he urged people to still get their flu vaccines.
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