SHARLENE RAMPERSAD
Although there were no long lines yesterday as the Sinopharm vaccination programme was started across the country, Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the Ministry of Health surpassed its target of vaccinations for the day.
Deyalsingh said the ministry had set a target of 1,500 doses for its first day of the vaccine rollout programme.
Up until 4 pm yesterday, the minister said 1,698 people in total were vaccinated.
From that figure, 394 people were vaccinated by the South West Regional Health Authority, 249 were vaccinated by the North West Regional Health Authority, 678 were vaccinated by the North Central Regional Health Authority and 310 were vaccinated by the Eastern Regional Health Authority.
In Tobago, 112 people were vaccinated by the Tobago Regional Health Authority.
In announcing the figures, Deyalsingh said the first day numbers showed a great response by the public.
He said the figures showed a high degree of vaccine acceptance as he thanked the public.
Guardian Media visited the St Joseph Enhanced Health Centre where vaccines were being administered yesterday. At the facility, an elderly man and his wife complained that they had been trying to make an appointment to receive vaccines for several days without success.
“We applied, they say send the WhatsApp messages, I sent it but that number is not working,” the man said.
He said he had visited the facility earlier in the day, enquiring about vaccines but was told he needed to make an appointment.
He said when he explained he had been trying to make an appointment for the past few days, he was told to return to the facility at 2 pm.
However, he said when he returned, he was once again directed to send a message to the number provided to book an appointment.
The man said he was told the numbers will be ‘inactive’ over the weekend.
His wife questioned why members of the public were being instructed to send messages to an inactive number.
