Where did the Brazilian COVID-19 variant come from?
This question was raised yesterday by Oropouche East MP Roodal Moonilal, as he called on the ruling People’s National Movement Government for answers.
Speaking at a media conference at the Opposition Leader’s office in Port-of-Spain, Moonilal expressed worry that information received suggests only 30,800 citizens had received the first jab of the Oxford AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, which amounted to a mere 4.5 per cent of the 700,000 adult population.
He wondered when herd immunity would be achieved, adding the effects on the economy will be far greater the longer we take to innoculate citizens.
“This is a terrible position to be in now. The only way the world will conquer this pandemic is by mass vaccination. It is not sustainable that the human population will continue to wear masks, social distance and wash hands,” Moonilal said, adding the Government had no plan, purpose or policy to tackle the virus.
He said healthcare providers are unsure when the rest of the vaccines will arrive.
“These are serious issues that have arrived and the Government has not been transparent.”
On Monday, the first local case of the highly transmissible Brazil variant was detected by the Health Ministry. It was picked up in a sample taken from a patient in the Nariva/Mayaro country which was sent to the University of the West Indies for genetic sequencing. Four days later, the ministry urged the public to be extra vigilant, as three other patients had been tested positive for the Brazilian variant. Of the three additional cases, two were nationals and the ministry added that the cases had not been geographically or epidemiologically linked to the previous P1 variant case or to each other.
Saying T&T’s south-western border has been porous for years, Moonilal inquired where the Brazilian variant came from?
“That is the multi-zillion pesos question that we want to ask. Nobody is asking the question and nobody is answering the question. Should we ask David Rudder? Maybe it came from the Bahia girl in Moruga, as the song said many years ago.”
He said the Government was not confronting this issue, adding National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds should focus on a comprehensive border security plan to protect our shores and citizens.
“Our national border management capabilities have collapsed under Stuart Young and will get worse under Hinds,” Moonilal said.
Moonilal drew reference to a boatload of Venezuelan migrants who are feared dead after the vessel in which they were travelling to T&T capsized on Thursday, plunging more than 25 people into the sea. Three bodies have been retrieved but the remaining 22 passengers are feared to have drowned.
While Hinds and the T&T Coast Guard have remained silent on the issue, Moonilal said, “They (Venezuelans) are coming to T&T. The only thing they fear is the water. It can’t be that they fear the Coast Guard or the police.”
Moonilal said we cannot ignore the fact that groups of illegal migrants are sneaking into the country.
“There is a greater risk that migrants can come in with the virus. The vulnerability is higher. Therefore the fear is higher. When we asked the Government to tell us where the Brazilian variant is coming from ... they have at their disposal the national security apparatus, they have the Ministry of Health surveillance units that can check when the person is positive, where the person came, what day, what were the connections of the person and the tracings and so on.”
Describing the variant as a “ticking bomb” waiting to explode, Moonilal said we have put all our eggs in one basket with the COVAX system.