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Chief medical officer Dr Roshan Parasram said that although Trinidad and Tobago has not recorded any new cases of Covid-19 from samples taken over a three-day period, that does not mean that the country is out of the woods.
Parasram was speaking at yesterday’s virtual media conference hosted by the Ministry of Health.
On Friday, the ministry reported that no new cases were detected in samples taken February 2-4.
Parasram said yesterday that 231 samples had been tested for this period.
“It’s a good sign,” he says. “During that particular period we would have tested about 231 samples … these samples would have been taken from individuals who presented to the facilities with some sort of viral-like symptoms that fell into the category of acute viral illnesses or illnesses. acute respiratory problems. or severe respiratory disease. In these individuals, out of all those who were tested, none of them came back as positive during this period.
Parasram reminded the country that the virus is still circulating. “It doesn’t mean we don’t have Covid in the country. We have 230 active cases right now, and I’m sure we have people coming into the facilities with viral-like symptoms who will be tested and maybe by tomorrow we’ll get a few more. .. “
First line of defense vaccine
Regarding preparations to run the vaccination program, Parasram said the ministry was conducting a mock exercise with senior officials on how vaccines will be deployed from storage to delivery to patients.
“We have built the process from arrival, to administration, in our national immunization plan.”
Also speaking during the briefing, Professor of Immunology at the University of the West Indies (UWI) Michele Monteil urged the public to get vaccinated when it becomes available.
She said this is how the world can begin to return to some semblance of normalcy.
“We really need to do two things: we need to provide the majority of our population with a good level of protective immunity against the (virus) and we need to have low person-to-person transmission of the virus. The best way to do this is with vaccination. “
Monteil noted that Israel had already vaccinated 90% of its population over the age of 60, using the Pfizer vaccine.
“And what they were able to tell us is that the number of infections following vaccination in the population has dropped precipitously. So there is real evidence that the Pfizer vaccine works, ”she said.
Penny Ramlagan, district health visitor at the Eastern Regional Health Authority, also stressed the importance of immunization.
She noted that, historically, vaccines have been shown to be effective and have successfully fought many other deadly diseases.
“Vaccination is our first line of defense,” she said.
“Throughout history, vaccination has been our ammunition in the fight against vaccine-preventable diseases. We don’t just immunize to protect our children, we immunize to protect our future, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“The Covid-19 vaccine is a major line of defense in the fight against the Covid-19 virus. The Covid-19 vaccine, as well as compliance with Covid-19 protocols, such as wearing a mask, social distancing, hand washing, hand sanitizing, will help us win this war against Covid-19. “
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