The Ministry of Health continues to assert that no one who has received the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in Trinidad and Tobago has had any serious side effect. “At this point in time, after administering over 16,000 vaccines, [the ministry] has no recorded adverse events,” principal medical officer Dr Maryam Abool-Richards said …

Chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Roshan Parasram said that the benefits of taking the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine far outweighed the risk of blood clots linked to the vaccine, which he said was rare. “In terms of incidence what they’ve noted in the international population, it’s anywhere between four out of a …

The Ministry of Health has denounced a Trinidad Express editorial as ‘misinformation’ after the newspaper criticised the government for not testing people who were in contact with Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley during the two weeks prior to his positive test for Covid-19. The editorial, which was published today, quoted …

Despite months of preparation for the rollout of the Ministry of Health’s vaccination programme, health officials are struggling to manage the volume of requests for vaccines. Principal medical officer, Dr Maryam Abdool Richards, said: “We have received concerns from members of the population regarding the time taken to reach the …

Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh received his vaccination against Covid-19 today. Before the jab, the health minister said that he was happy about the start of the vaccine rollout. “From all reports so far, barring a couple hiccups, which you will expect, things have gone relatively smoothly. We have been …

The first shipment of 33,600 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday. Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh said that with these shots, the health ministry will begin its vaccine rollout on Tuesday 6 April. According to chief medical officer Dr Roshan Parasram, the vaccines will …

At the Ministry of Health’s virtual media conference, the technical director of the epidemiology division, Dr Avery Hinds, seemed to link the rise in new cases to recent changes to the public health ordinances relating to group sports. “The overall increase did begin approximately two weeks after one of the …

Just as many people now confirmed with Covid-19 in Trinidad and Tobago showed no signs of having the virus as those with symptoms. This according to the technical director of the Ministry of Health’s epidemiology division, Dr Avery Hinds. He said: “There is a significant proportion, maybe around half, maybe …

Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh was absent from today’s Ministry of Health virtual media conference to answer questions that remain about how the business community has supported the government as it tries to acquire Covid-19 vaccines. Instead, the technical director of the health ministry’s epidemiology division, Dr Avery Hinds, said: …

New Covid-19 cases have risen steadily each week for the month of March. Last week, 72 cases were confirmed, the week before saw 47 new cases. At the end of the first week of the month, 23 new cases had been confirmed. Speaking at the Ministry of Health’s virtual media …

Tobago is getting ready to see a jump in travellers from Trinidad over the Easter holiday. At today’s Ministry of Health virtual media conference, the county medical officer of health (CMOH) for Tobago, Dr Tiffany Hoyte, said villas were predicting a 98% occupancy rate, while apartments and hotels were expecting …

A new variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus has been identified in the UK by travellers from Antigua. This variant, which is not yet considered a variant of concern, contains mutations associated with higher transmission and lower vaccine efficacy. Speaking at the Ministry of Health’s virtual media conference, University of the …