LoopTT – If the country receives Pfizer vaccines from the United States in August, they will be used to vaccinate secondary school students.
Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley made the comment while speaking at a media conference at the Diplomatic Centre, St Ann’s, on Saturday afternoon.
The Pfizer vaccine, he noted, is the only vaccine approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) for use in children age 12 and over.
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 will put us in good stead to present them at school in September.”
Dr. Rowley added: “If there are any of you out there waiting for the Pfizer (vaccine), as long as you are not in the secondary population, you will be waiting.”
Meanwhile, the prime minister reiterated that COVID-19 vaccination remains voluntary.
Dr. Rowley added the matter of mandatory vaccination is not currently before Cabinet.
He said: “With respect to vaccination, it is in that context that the vaccination programme in Trinidad and Tobago is voluntary. That should not surprise anybody because we expect that everybody in Trinidad and Tobago wants to live, to survive the virus, and therefore we leave it for your action to give you the best chance to that outcome, given the response to the virus is largely personal responsibility.”
However, Dr. Rowley said if a particular COVID-19 variant becomes more virulent, the government will do what is necessary to protect the population.
