Prime Minister’s Media Conference – Saturday 17th July, 2021.

Secondary school students will be given priority for the use of Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines once the Government receives this donation from the United States.

Prime Minister Dr the Hon Keith Rowley made the comments at a media conference held at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s today (Saturday 17th July, 2021).

Dr Rowley stated that this vaccine is the only World Health Organization approved COVID-19 vaccine suitable for use by children aged 12 years old and older.

He said, “If we get our hands on a supply from the United States … the first call on those vaccines would be our high school-age population. And that would put us in good stead to present them at school in September.

What that will do, it will broaden more of our population into the vaccinated zone, and the risk of young people getting infected … facing down the virus with their stronger bodies and taking it to the older population will be considerably reduced.”

The Prime Minister also took the opportunity to encourage members of the public to become vaccinated and maintained that at this time “vaccination in Trinidad and Tobago remains voluntary” and that “the matter of making it mandatory is not before the cabinet”. However, he said the Government will act to protect the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago.

Dr Rowley said, “if some time ahead of us a new virus or a variant of this virus or any kinds of infection assails this nation and is far more destructive than this one or the condition is more destructive than this one, then this Government like every other government in the world facing that condition will have to act.”

Minister of Health, the Hon. Terrence Deyalsingh also announced that from next week, additional mass vaccination sites will be made available to members of the public. He encouraged people to pre-register their appointments at any of the 109 Health Centers across the country as “anyone who wants to be vaccinated should have reasonable access to a vaccine.”