Trinidad minister defends denial of entry to Canadian with mixed vaccines

Allan Preddie, with his deceased mother, and father
Allan Preddie, with his deceased mother, and father

(Trinidad Express) National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds yesterday stood behind the decision to deny entry to Canadian resident Allan Preddie after it was discovered his Covid-19 vaccination did not meet with what was acceptable for entry into Trinidad and Tobago (T&T).

Preddie, who arrived last Thursday to attend his mother’s funeral, told Canada’s CTV News that he was denied entry because he had a mix of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, while only persons with two doses of the same vaccine is allowed entry into T&T.

This mix of vaccines was approved in Canada due to a shortage of the Pfizer vaccine. However, it has not been approved by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Speaking during a press conference hosted by the Ministry of National Security yesterday, Hinds said the Canadian Government in response to a viral video of Preddie’s event, told the world that they had advised Canadian citizens to restrict international travel as far as is practicable given the virulence of the variants that are around the world and the challenges that they pose to human wellbeing and life, and of course our entire economic structure.

“They also told their citizens if you must travel, you should familiarise yourself with the destination country’s public health regulations. Good advice.

“We have a Travel Pass arrangement where when you approach the platform, you will see what our local health regulations and arrangements require or demand. The Ministry of National Security’s website also tells you this. And therefore, I am satisfied that reasonable international notice has been given apart from the fact that it is well known that all countries have taken some level of action to protect itself,” Hinds noted.

He said Preedie would have gone on our system and obtained a Travel Pass, which you can only get when you satisfied it by the information you upload into it.

“You satisfy the system that you’ve answered all the questions, not necessarily correctly because persons can make false declarations, for which we have impose a very serious $350,000 fine and two years’ imprisonment because of the seriousness of this. “Somebody tells a lie or upload a false PCR which is supposed to be no more than 72 hours old, or somebody offers false information about whether they are fully vaccinated or otherwise, they will come through on the system, but when they get to Trinidad or otherwise and these documents have to be validated, it may reveal untruths.

“In the case of Mr Preedie, the system demands information in respect of mixed vaccines because we have always said we only use and offer to the people of Trinidad and Tobago World Health Organisation-approved vaccines.

And similarly, in terms of blends or mixtures, we only acknowledge in full vaccination a mixed as offered by the World Health Organization, of the Pfizer and the AstraZeneca.

Stating that no other mix has been approved by the World Health Organisation as far as he knows, Hinds said therefore no other mix is acceptable to Trinidad and Tobago.

“Mr Preedie obviously uploaded information that allowed him the Travel Pass but when he arrived it occurred to those who would validate it that his mix was the Pfizer and the Moderna.”

He noted that had Preddie been a national he would have been allowed entry after quarantine at his own expense but he being a non-national, his entry had to be denied.

“We had said from the get go, it is there for the world to see, that as a non-national you’re not permitted to come into the borders of Trinidad and Tobago if you’re unvaccinated, and vaccinated means having your two shots, or in the case of a single shot Johnson and Johnson, your one shot, and after your final or your one shot in the Johnson and Johnson case, 14 days would have passed and then you’re deemed fully vaccinated. In the case of the mix, as I said earlier, the Pfizer and the AstraZeneca would do.

“He got in here and it was discovered that that was not the case so very unfortunately he had to be turned back. I’m sure he did not tell the media in Canada from whence he came, all of the details I’ve just shared with you.”

Hinds said he’s sharing the information so that the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago would understand that Trinidad and Tobago like every other country, has its laws and its public health regulations, all designed to protect the people of Trinidad and Tobago.

“And just as the United States, and Nigeria, and Canada, and India have theirs and they do it in the interest of their population, we Trinidad and Tobago do it in the interest of ours and we stand by it.

“So it was most unfortunate, I understand the implications for him as an individual, it’s his mother. I understand all of the emotional content. I understand there are some who might think there are humanitarian concerns, but I think the greatest humanitarian concern is the concern for 1.4 billion human beings in Trinidad and Tobago. Not just one, all of us,” Hinds noted