Trinidad and Tobago has gone from a period of COVID-19 vaccine drought and what appeared to be some level of anxiety from the public, to the now enviable position of having over one million doses of various vaccines in hand, with more on the way.
Yesterday, 305, 370 doses of the Pfizer vaccine, which is part of 908,000 doses being donated by the United States, arrived in the country.
These doses mean T&T now has 1,688,100 two-shot COVID vaccines in its possession, enough to vaccinate 844,050 people in a population of 1.4 million. Bearing in mind that close to 300,000 individuals have already been fully vaccinated, the new doses can take the society near the 900,000 herd immunity level it is seeking.
Aside from the purchase of the Sinopharm vaccine from China, much of this country's acquisition came from the negotiations, hard work and shrewdness of Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Dr Amery Browne, who, guided by Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley, negotiated skilfully to acquire vaccines for this country from India, China, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and Bermuda. The Minister has been quietly engaging in bilateral discussions aimed at obtaining vaccines for the benefit of citizens.
Now that T&T has comfortably moved into a position where children ages 12 and up can also be vaccinated, it is clear that Minister Browne has more than accomplished the job he was tasked to do.
The baton has now been passed over to citizens to run the next leg of this relay against COVID-19.
There is now easy access to AstraZeneca, Sinopharm and Pfizer vaccines in all nooks and crannies around the country.
Special provisions have been put in place for the elderly and differently-abled, with door-to-door jabs and pop-up vaccination sites being run by the public health sector, private sector and NGOs.
There is, therefore, no more room for excuses for not getting inoculated!
Those who have been hesitant and may have had reservations or questions about a particular brand of vaccine are fortunate to have the option to choose one to their liking — a choice scores of other countries do not have.
With two cases of the Delta variant confirmed in this country on Wednesday, citizens should be heading in droves to vaccination sites and opening their doors to officials to get vaccinated.
It was only in May that the parallel health care system stood on the verge of collapse as healthcare professionals gave an almost daily countdown of how long it could remain standing due to the overwhelming case numbers. Nurses and doctors were said to be overwhelmed then as they sought to provide the best treatment for patients in their care.
We must also not forget May 13, when 21 people lost their lives to the virus in a 24-hour span.
These incidents, where real people were impacted, should not escape our memory and should serve as the impetus for everyone - young and old - to get vaccinated, continue to wear their masks, wash their hands and watch their distance.
We all should do everything in our power to prevent the Delta variant and all other strains from ravaging the country and causing a further loss of lives and livelihoods.