(Trinidad Guardian) – Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has announced that 800,000 two-dose vaccines will arrive in Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday morning.
He made the announcement at the weekly COVID-19 news conference at the Diplomatic Centre in St Ann’s.
He said the state will begin an aggressive mass vaccination campaign starting on Friday, with the hope that 400,000 people would be vaccinated in the shortest possible time.
“We are now going to ramp up the vaccination programme. We will have the mass vaccination sites operating for many hours,” he said.
As a result, the prime minister announced that as of Monday, July 12, all retail vehicle sales and the full manufacturing sector will also reopen.
From Monday, July 19, restaurants and food establishments will be allowed to resume curbside and pick-up services.
Also on Monday, July 19, restricted outdoor activities will be allowed for exercising but with groups of no more than five, with all protocols of mask-wearing and social distancing.
Dr Rowley said that by the end of July going into August, T&T would be in a much better position than it has ever been during the pandemic.
He said that the supply coming on Tuesday will take the number of vaccines that have come into the country since April up to 1.2 million, allowing the country to reach up to 600,000 vaccinations.
He said that another significant shipment is expected from the Africa Medical Supplies Platform in July, which would also boost the vaccination drive.
He said he believes that the target of 900,000 people can be reached by the end of August or sometime in September.
“We’ve escaped from a situation from hopelessness to one of hope. We can shift our policies significantly,” he said.
“The Ministry of Health is prepared and ready to conduct a programme of continuous aggressive vaccination. So we will start from next week Friday, a huge effort of mass vaccinations and three weeks later, a second dose,” he said, adding, “then in August and September…will take us above the level of 900,000.”
Dr Rowley said he is happy that there are “significant numbers of people who are accepting that the response to this virus now is to do what we did not do and could not do before, to vaccinate as many people.”
However, he added that it is by choice and urged everyone to accept the opportunity to get vaccinated.
Health Minister Terrance Deyalsingh said a total of 71,289 people got second-dose jabs in the last week alone.
