The United National Congress (UNC) is baffled as to why this government has maintained that it would only procure and administer vaccines which have received World Health Organisation (WHO) approval.
UNC MP for Caroni East Dr Rishad Seecharran, speaking during a press conference on Sunday, said countries that are currently ahead of T&T in its vaccination drives did not await the WHO approval and were able to gain an advantage.”
He said government’s decision to await WHO approvals before procuring doses, only puts the country at the back of the line.
But, Seecharan said “this is part of the People’s National Movement’s “manufactured vaccine crisis.”
He pointed out that “The vast majority of countries around the world pre-ordered vaccines based on data provided from phase three trials and many have begun vaccinating their public before WHO authorisation.”
Seecharan said even Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley announced that the country’s Ministry of Health approved the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine 10 days before it was given the WHO approval.
He explained that “Some nations approved their vaccines through a national agency such as the FDA (the Food and Drug Administration), in America while others may choose to do so through another international agency such as the WHO…the United Kingdom- they do it through their Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, and the European does it through the European Medicines Agency.”
He also said if the same approach used recently to pre-order Sinopharm doses from China dependent on a WHO approval was used when the country set aside funding for vaccines in October, the country would have had doses by now.
“Today, we would be vaccinating our citizens as the rest of the world is doing instead of trying to find excuses that have no standard in science.
COMMENTS