Category Archives: COVID-19

Encounter with The Maestro

By Raffique Shah
August 16, 2021

Raffique ShahI was dreaming of the din that has developed over vaccination—to vaccinate or not?—which of the vaccines is acceptable, which is not?—an unholy row that is international in its reach, with the Internet offering a global platform to everyone who must have his say—when an apparition of Cecil Hume, stage name The Maestro, blotted out everything else, crooning in his high-pitched voice the near-comical lyrics of his masterful calypso, ‘Mr Trinidad’.
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Did Covid-19 Vaccines Cause Coronavirus Delta Variants?

Here’s What The Timing Says

By Bruce Y. Lee
August 07, 2021 – forbes.com

Covid-19As they say in life, timing is everything. There are now claims that Covid-19 vaccines have caused the Delta variant of the Covid-19 coronavirus to emerge. For example, here’s something that was posted on Facebook:

There is however one big flaw in such claims. It has to do with the space-time continuum and the lack of a flux capacitor.
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The answers my friends

By Raffique Shah
August 01, 2021

Raffique ShahFact: an overwhelming majority of the 1,000-plus victims of Covid-19 who died of the highly contagious virus were also stricken with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as heart diseases, diabetes, renal conditions and other preventable ailments.

I do not have the precise numbers of such cases since the Ministry of Health has a policy of not disclosing details of patients in its system. But I think I can safely say that based on the frequency with which “co-morbidities” has been attached to the profiles of the deceased, some 80 per cent fell in that category.
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Choosing fight over flight

By Raffique Shah
July 26, 2021

Raffique ShahI got vaccinated last week. I received the first of two doses of the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine. I chose the drive-through option at the Ato Boldon Stadium because it is close to my home and I didn’t have to leave the privacy or comfort of my car to queue up at any stage of the proceedings, which is helpful to people who suffer with Parkinson’s and similar neurological disorders.

The operation was organised by Proman, a large project management corporation in the energy sector, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health. Fazad Mohammed, the company’s manager of corporate communications, said they hoped to fully vaccinate 7,000 people in this initiative.
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Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana officials in vaccine-use crosstalk

By Shane Superville
June 18, 2021 – newsday.co.tt

Dr Leslie RamsammyRemarks made by the Prime Minister during a media conference last Saturday led to a heated exchange between officials from the Guyanese government and business community and Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs on Friday.

During his presentation, Dr Rowley referred to a table highlighting the number of vaccines received by all 14 Caricom countries and their associates as of Saturday.
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Foods for your table

By Raffique Shah
June 07, 2021

Raffique ShahWarnings of food crises post-Covid-19 are dire. According to one study on global food security by the Centre for Strategic International Studies (CSIS), dated March 15, 2021, one year into the pandemic, ‘…at least four countries are facing…famine, …with 13 close behind…’ The study noted that one year ago, the UN World Food Programme executive director David Beasely, warned the UN Security Council of ‘famines of biblical proportions’ and of possibly 270 million ‘people experiencing crisis levels of hunger’.
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Businessman’s Pfizer claims ‘fake news’, says Police Commissioner

Loop News, June 03, 2021

Clint ArjoonFake news.

This is how Commissioner of Police Gary Griffith has described claims by Clint Arjoon, president of the Fyzabad Chamber of Industry and Commerce, regarding the alleged entry of Pfizer vaccines into the country.

On Wednesday, Arjoon alleged that the vaccines were brought into the country and were being administered to citizens via a private facility.
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Searching for Our Truths

By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
May 31, 2021

Dr. Selwyn R. CudjoeThere is much that is silly about the back and forth between the prime minister and the leader of the opposition about who is to be blamed for the rising death rate the savage pandemic has inflicted upon the people of our country. Rowley says that the candlelight vigils “organized and paid for by the UNC is a major contributory factor in the spike of Covid infections,” whereas Persad-Bissessar claims that the 50,000 people who visited Tobago during Easter “on the Prime Minister’s invitation resulted in the outbreak” (Express, May 25).
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Departing on arrival day

By Raffique Shah
May 31, 2021

Raffique ShahIn the event that you may have just awakened from a Rip shocking it might seem to you, it’s not just T&T; the world is at war…has been for almost one and a half years.

Just so you get right, we have already lost more than 400 lives in the war against Covid-19, with many more wounded, tens of thousands dislocated. Globally, some 3.5 million souls have returned to God, or wherever such poor buggers go, and mankind’s forces have suffered an estimated 170 million light-to-moderate casualties.
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NCRHA meets to discuss transferred doctors today apology

By Gail Alexander
May 27, 2021 – guardian.co.tt

DoctorsThe board of the North Central Regional Health Authority (NCRHA) will meet today to discuss a call by 11 doctors for the reinstatement of and an apology to four senior doctors who were recently transferred from the Couva Hospital and Multi-Training Facility.

The board’s meeting this morning will examine a call made by the 11 senior medical practitioners, who’ve insisted the board immediately do a probe into why the four senior specialist doctors were removed from the Couva Hospital recently.
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