Chief Medical Officer Dr. Roshan Parasram says that despite Trinidad and Tobago not registering new cases of Covid-19 from samples taken over a three-day period, it does not mean the land is out of the forest.
Parasram spoke at the virtual media conference organized by the Ministry of Health yesterday.
On Friday, the ministry reported that no new cases had been detected in samples taken from February 2 to February 4.
Parasram said that about 231 samples had been tested for that period yesterday.
“It’s a good sign,” he said. “During that particular period of time, we would have tested about 231 samples … which would have been samples taken from individuals who reported to the facilities with some sort of viral symptoms that fall into the category of an acute viral illness or an acute respiratory illness. or severe respiratory disease. In those individuals, of all those tested, none came back positive during that 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 am sure there are individuals who report to the facilities with viral symptoms who will be tested and we may pick up a few more cases tomorrow … “
Vaccine’s first line of defense
On preparations to run the vaccination program, Parasram said the ministry is conducting a bogus exercise with senior staff to see how the vaccines will be rolled out from storage to delivery to patients.
“We have detailed the process from arrival to administration in our national vaccine plan.”
During the briefing, Michele Monteil, a professor of immunology at the University of the West Indies (The UWI), encouraged the public to get the vaccine as soon as it becomes available.
She said this is how the world can begin to return to an appearance 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 low person-to-person transmission of the virus. The best way to achieve this is through vaccination. “
Monteil noted that Israel has already vaccinated 90 percent of its elderly population over 60 with the Pfizer vaccine.
“And what they have been able to tell us is that the number of post-vaccination infections among the population has dropped suddenly. So there is real evidence that the Pfizer vaccine works, ”she said.
District Health Visitor at Penny Ramlagan, the Eastern Regional Health Authority, also stressed the importance of vaccination.
She noted that vaccines have historically proven effective and successfully fought many other deadly diseases.
“Vaccination is our first line of defense,” she said.
“Throughout history, vaccination has been our munitions in the fight against vaccine-preventable diseases. Not only do we vaccinate to protect our children, we also vaccinate to protect our future, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
“The Covid-19 vaccine is an important line of defense in the fight against the Covid-19 virus. The Covid-19 vaccine, along with adherence to Covid-19 protocols, such as wearing a mask, socializing, washing hands, disinfecting hands, will help us win this war against Covid-19. “