kevon.felmine@guardian.co.tt
Unlike the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines for adults and teenagers, parents and children did not rush to vaccination sites for the first day of administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines for children ages five-11.
The vaccines became available at several sites across the country yesterday and the process will continue from Mondays to Fridays between 8 am and 3 pm, although these are the hours when children in that age group are at school. Four sites are available on Saturdays.
At some health centres in South Trinidad yesterday, hours passed without a child taking the vaccine. Marabella and Ste Madeleine were particularly slow in the morning period.
Ravesh and Sasha Balramsingh were among the first to arrive with their children Ashish, 10, and Ravina, nine, at the Southern Academy for Performing Arts in San Fernando.
With a day off from the Cedar Grove Private Primary School in Palmiste, Ravesh said the children took the shots well.
Having taken their shots of the COVID-19 vaccines, the parents found it necessary to protect their children against severe disease.
Ravesh has been reading about COVID-19 vaccines for a while and said it was understandable that people have concerns.
Parents Cindy and Iftika Ally and children Sheriza, left, and Sheneza, show the vaccine sign after they got the paediatric Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines at SAPA yesterday.
RISHI RAGOONATH
However, he questioned what other options people had with the disease still spreading. Although he acknowledged that some people would experience side effects, he said this was the norm for any vaccine.
“I think children should take the vaccine. At the end of the day, it has been tested throughout the world. Yes, of course, there will be the few people who will have side effects but at the end of the day, you look at it, and it is for the better good,” Ravish said.
The process was quick for the families with the low turnout.
Ravesh expressed concern about the public response and hopes more parents will take their children in the coming days.
Steve and Joanne Ragobar took grandchildren, Portia, 10, and Raphael, six, pupils of Grant Memorial Presbyterian School in San Fernando, to the site. Steve believes it is better the children get the vaccine rather than be unvaccinated.
“There must be some level of concern. I mean, it is new. They are not really sure. They are young. They are small, but I think when you weigh the advantages and the disadvantages, you make a decision like we did to have the vaccine,” Steve said.
While Steve does not believe taking the vaccine will stop children from getting COVID-19, he said it will help them to mitigate severe symptoms.
He said the children took cues from himself and Joanne and did well in taking the vaccine. Not being a medical doctor, Steve did not want to tell parents to vaccinate their children but advised them to read about the vaccine. He said after two years of the pandemic, there is a lot of research and statistics to view.
Meanwhile, Concerned Parents Movement president Clarence Mendoza yesterday said with the country opening up, many parents no longer see COVID-19 as a significant threat. He said their concern was that children still wear face masks for long hours at school.
Ravesh Balramsingh and children Ashish and Ravina pose for a photograph after they got the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine for children yesterday.
RISHI RAGOONATH
“The Concerned Parents Movement, we were having discussions on the matter in the last couple of days, of what we can really achieve by vaccinating our children between the ages of five-11, and members are open on it. They said right about now, they are not going to be vaccinating their child at that age, at this point,” he said.
He said children went through the more intense part of the pandemic without contracting COVID, so some parents do not see it as necessary to vaccinate their children.
