Though Trinidad & Tobago has not recorded any cases of monkeypox, its Minister of Health. Terrence Deyalsingh, has revealed that 2 000 doses of vaccine have been ordered by the government to fight the virus from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).
While speaking at the Ministry of Health’s weekly COVID-19 news conference, the Minister said there was no confirmation of the cost of the vaccine or the date of arrival of the vaccine.
He said: “We have placed a very early order. T&T was one of the first countries to place the order with PAHO.
“We have placed an indicative order of 2 000 doses of monkeypox vaccines. It is a two-dose vaccine just like the AstraZeneca or the Pfizer or the Sinopharm (for COVID-19), so that means that could vaccinate potentially 1 000 people.”
According to him, once the shipment arrives, the vaccination programme will first focus on close contact with people who test positive for the virus.
He said: “So if you have a positive person living in a household… one or two colleagues… let’s go up to a maximum of 10 close contacts for a positive case. We are having the ability to vaccinate 1 000 people.
“We are catering for roughly 100 cases. At this point in time, with the trajectory of monkeypox, the chances of T&T registering 100 cases is relatively low.”
The Minister who said eight samples recently sent for local testing had come back negative, added: “We continue to be prepared.
“What is missing now is the vaccines. Testing is up and running, and we have done everything else that we could do as we prepare more and more for the arrival of the monkeypox virus on our shores.
“I want to add my voice again, as I have been, for small states like T&T to be able to access monkeypox vaccines,” he said.
“It is quite sad to see as a global community, we’re making the same mistake as we made for COVID, where the larger, wealthier countries have hundreds of thousands of vaccines and countries like ours have none.”
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