kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
While there is some contention over the Government’s proposal to allow certain leisure privileges to vaccinated people, Technical Director of the Epidemiology Division Dr Avery Hinds says the system of safe zones for vaccinated people can work.
Last Saturday, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley said if projections continue with low COVID-19 numbers and consistent vaccinations, the Government aims to reopen bars, gyms, cinemas, casinos and allow in-house dining in four weeks. Rowley said certain aspects of the businesses could become safe zones where vaccinated people can participate.
At yesterday’s Ministry of Health COVID-19 update, Hinds explained that a safe zone was a concept where the ministry will try to facilitate the movement of people with a lower risk of being infected or infectious for leisure-type activities.
“It is like you are creating an artificial pocket of herd immunity by having all the people in a particular space vaccinated while they interact. So theoretically, it is one of the approaches that can reduce risk but will not, clearly, eliminate the risk altogether. It is an approach that can reduce risk by having a lower risk cohort or group of individuals interacting in these settings. So from an epidemiologic perspective, yes, it is an idea that is supported and the more people that are vaccinated, the better the idea will work,” Hinds said.
Other countries are using similar policies. France requires its people to carry health passes to access eateries, leisure and cultural spaces. Despite protests there, the government remains resolute that the system is working.
As hundreds of people went to vaccinations sites last weekend for a shot of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Hinds urged others to make use of the available doses before they expire in November. In August, the United States donated 305,370 doses of the vaccines, which the Ministry of Health allotted to secondary school children between ages 12 and 18. However, vaccine hesitancy among parents led to the ministry offering doses to teachers and healthcare workers before also offering adults a limited amount as well.
Hinds said that in the first few days of administering the Pfizer vaccine to children, there were above 3,000 vaccinations per day. The rate dropped just under 1,000 but has increased slightly recently.
“We want to encourage all who wish to get the Pfizer vaccine to make haste to get their vaccinations on board. Those vaccines do have an expiry date at about the end of November. So given that it is about a five-week time period from the first vaccine to full immunity, we want to count backward by September into October. As many people as possible should be making use of the availability of those vaccines, in order to make full use of the available stock prior to the expiry date becoming an issue.”
Professor of Molecular Genetics and Virology at the University of the West Indies, Christine Carrington, said there was a misconception that because vaccinated people could still get infected with COVID-19, there is no need for the vaccine. However, Carrington said that an infection was not the same as a disease.
“Infection means that a virus has entered your body and has begun to multiply in your cells. That multiplication of the virus can cause damage, either directly or indirectly. If enough damage is done, then you will feel sick, you experience disease. So infection and disease are not the same things,” Carrington said.
She also said not all infections lead to disease. She added that although some COVID-19 variants are more resistant to vaccines, they still massively reduce the chance of severe disease and death.
Principal Medical Officer at the Ministry of Health, Dr Mariam Abdool-Richards, said fewer people have been admitted into the parallel health systems in recent weeks.
As of yesterday morning, there were 372 (291 in hospitals and 81 in step-down facilities)
She said there was a 3:1 ratio of people who were critically and severely ill to those recovering.
“That again underscores the clinical severity. That is how ill people are once they contract the COVID-19 virus,” Abdool-Richards said.
Occupancy within the system was at 36 per cent and ward level care showed that four of 10 beds were occupied. Intensive Care Unit usage was at 76 per cent and 30 per cent in the High Dependency Units. Abdool-Richards added that the ministry continued to see children being admitted for medical care and high demand for ICU treatment.