Epidemiologist Dr Avery Hinds is urging people not to let their guards down after receiving the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccines. He is also concerned that many people are still moving about despite the State of Emergency and lockdowns implemented to reduce spread of the virus.
He made the call yesterday, as he revealed the Ministry of Health was still awaiting official confirmation of details from the families of four to five people who had died after getting their first jabs.
Speaking during the Ministry of Health briefing, Hinds sought to reassure the public that there have not been many instances of a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine being administered and a virus-related death being recorded.
He said, “In those where it has happened, there are maybe about four or five that we have on record, and they’re usually persons who would have contracted the illness pretty soon after having had their vaccine, but we’re still attempting to get the documentation on the vaccine itself from some of these individuals.”
He said this information will be refined and clarified as it becomes available, as this data isn’t always presented to the clinical staff at the point in time when the fatality occurs.
Of the cases so far reported verbally, Hinds said, “The ones who would have a fatal outcome and claimed to or have a record of a vaccine…those persons have all only had a first dose and would have been relatively close, less than two weeks after that first dose that they would have then become ill, and that is sort of in keeping with the expectation that the first dose of vaccine needs a couple weeks before your immunity is boosted sufficiently by it.”
He added, “Even with that first dose of vaccine onboard the immunity is not optimised yet, which is why your second dose of vaccine is of utmost importance.”
As of yesterday, 822 people had died from COVID-related complications.
Hinds encouraged people to come forward and continue being vaccinated against the virus and urged them not to become complacent after being fully vaccinated.
He also urged the continuance of wearing masks, social distancing and sanitising.
On June 24, Chief Medical Officer Dr Roshan Parasram explained that a fully vaccinated individual is someone who has received the two doses of an approved WHO vaccine and has completed the requisite two-week period after receiving the final dose.
It is the same for anyone receiving any of the one-dose vaccines, he said.
As T&T prepares to reopen borders after 15 months, returning nationals and visitors will have to provide proof that they have received a WHO-approved vaccine, he said.
Hinds said by only allowing vaccinated travellers entry, this measure will aid in minimising the risk of spread.
Pressed to comment on some countries which have established a criteria which does not include acceptance of the Sinopharm vaccine at this time, Hinds said it did not necessarily mean the individual could not travel to the country in question, unless this was specified.
Instead, he said the person would “be managed as an unvaccinated individual” and would be subjected to the country’s quarantine processes.
Asked if the ministry was satisfied that the number of new infections had come down and if this was a result of the restrictions, he said, “One of the things we noticed is that even with the restrictions, even with the implementation of several measures aimed at reducing movement, there is still a significant amount of movement within the population.”
He compared this year’s lock-down to last year’s as he added, “You realise that decrease in movement and the consequent decrease in persons interacting…that decrease was not as significant this year as last year, so the impact, therefore, of reducing that risk of contamination and risk of transmission would be somewhat less if you continue to have additional movement.”
Hinds said while they did not set a particular benchmark to reach, the authorities have continued to monitor the change and as decreases are recorded, new projections are made as to how quickly they expect to continue to decrease.