Infectious disease specialist Dr Farley Cleghorn believes the Ministry of Health (MoH) handled the first confirmed case of the Omicron variant in T&T well.
The US-based epidemiologist said, while there was a breakdown in the system between New York and Trinidad, the TT TravelPass system clearly states that if you are a non-Trinidadian, you must be fully vaccinated and have a negative PCR test.
“Could they have done anything else? People would say they could have isolated the whole plane. Well, there’s no protocol that calls for that unless the national security minister says that,” Cleghron said.
“They did everything by the book and the question is what happens next? If this woman has no opportunity to transmit during the natural course of infection that should be the end of that.”
He believed, however, that the government should consider additional steps to ensure that spread is contained.
“I would do telephone follow-ups with all of the passengers on the phone, just to make sure nobody else is coming down with anything, and to get them to do regular testing, voluntarily,” he said.
Internal medicine specialist Dr Joel Teelucksingh said the risk of acquiring an infection on an airplane is thought to be less than the risk at a supermarket or a building.
He said the airflow in planes is not typically conducive for infectious spread.
He added that planes have high-efficiency particulate air filters– that are also used in some surgical operating theatres.
“The problem is the person may have walked around the aisles or gone to the bathroom. It is unclear about her level of interaction.” Teelucksingh said.
“It does not take into account the encounters that she had at the airport with staff or other passengers, and neither does it take into account the fact that she may have been ambulanced during that flight.”
He said because of the Omicron variant’s transmissibility, as well as other factors, quarantine measures on passengers aboard the Copa Airlines flight should have been tighter.
Cleghorn suggested that, with the variant’s arrival, the Government should consider allowing people vaccinated under a Sinopharm regiment to receive Pfizer boosters.
He said he’s a big proponent of mix and matching vaccines.
“Once you’ve had your initial vaccination schedule end, having an mRNA boost will produce the best results,” he said.
“This, of course, depends on supply, so it assures you have enough mRNA to give everyone a boost.”
Teelucksingh agreed, saying boosters were a major tool in the fight against the Omicron variant.
He said research suggests that the variant appears to evade some vaccines.
“Smaller studies in parts of Africa and Europe and the US indicate that booster jabs, particularly the Pfizer vaccine, have been effective in the production of neutralising antibodies for this particular virus,” Dr Teelucksingh said.
Under the national booster programme, which launched on Monday, people who received Sinopharm vaccines are only eligible to receive a Sinopharm booster shot.
People who received AstraZeneca and Johson & Johnson shots may receive Pfizer booster shots.
The national booster programme schedule is based on the date people received their second doses.
Opposition wants answers
Meanwhile, Opposition MP Saddam Hosein called on the Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds to explain how a person with a positive PCR test was issued a TTravel Pass..
According to Hosein, in a press release, Hinds must also explain whether the ministry verifies the information that a person submits in their TTravel Pass before it is issued.
“This case has revealed significant inefficiencies, inadequacies, and a total lack of competence in handling the border control arrangements to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and its variants,” the MP for Barataria/San Juan said.
“Had the system operated in an efficient manner, this most serious and unfortunate event would not have occurred. The heavy burden of this blame falls on the Ministers of Health and National Security.”
